


Overwatch: The Second Omnic Crisis

by deadlypen1



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: And it has a soundtrack too, Attack in Lijiang, Attack in Numbani, Destruction of Gibraltar, F/M, Foreign Language, Junkers - Freeform, Mental Instability, Original Character(s), Some Meta stuff, Swiss people can speak french too, U.N. bureaucracy, Widowmaker turning back to Ameile, cursing in foreign languages, dream sequence with polyamory and rape metaphors, may have canon divergence depending on what else comes out, original events
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-09 19:11:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 68,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7813771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadlypen1/pseuds/deadlypen1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Overwatch has been recalled in the face of the renewed threat of Omnic attacks and Talon activity. With old and new players on both sides, can Overwatch finally achieve a lasting peace in this world? Spanning across the known Overwatch world, the story will eventually expand to include every playable character, along with plenty of original ones as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Dream Police

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan fiction in the Overwatch fandom. I know the chapter lengths are long, but that's how I intend this story to be told. Any foreign languages used come straight from Google translate, so apologies if I butcher something.
> 
> The first two chapters I originally posted on fanfiction.net, but now that I have an ao3 account, I will regularly update them both around the same time.
> 
> I'm the kind of writer that likes to drop in songs to enhance whatever is happening. In each chapter, I'll have a list of songs used so you can go listen to them.
> 
> Also, this was first published in August, so there's plenty of other canon stuff released since then that isn't involved here.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Overwatch Recall has begun. Various old members return to get the team back together

1.

Torbjorn Lindholm walked through the streets of Stuttgart, Germany all alone. How was he going to tell Reinhardt he lost his job at the factory? And to an Omnic no less? That was the most humiliating part for him. To Torbjorn, Omnics were built and used to serve humanity, not to completely replace it. No wonder there were so many protests happening around the world.

As he reached his apartment building and took the elevator up to his floor, Torbjorn still tried to find the words to explain the predicament. It wasn't my fault it was the Omnics' fault. I yelled at my boss to make a point. Looks like I'll have to find a more menial job now.

Torbjorn walked into his apartment on the fourth floor to find his roommate, Reinhardt Wilhelm, deadlifting 200 kg weights while blasting David Hasselhoff's cover of "Hooked on a Feeling." With no one to spot him. Again.

"Reinhardt!" Torbjorn shouted as he saw this. 'What did we talk about? No weightlifting when I'm not here! For God's sake, you could snap yourself in half if those slip."

"Relax, my dwarf friend," Reinhardt said as he put the weights on their stand. "What can harmless weights that can't fight back do to me?"

"They crush your body by weighing so much. That's how they fight back."

'Torbjorn, I'm in the best shape of my life," Reinhardt said as he stood up flexing his muscles. "How else can a man in his 60's fight off local punks and protect the innocent of this city?"

Torbjorn couldn't bring himself to respond to the last part. He yelled at Reinhardt for getting involved in so many petty skirmishes he realized he couldn't change the man. Besides, there were more important manners at hand.

"Reinhardt," Torbjorn started out. "I lost my job at the factory."

"What do you mean you lost your job?" Reinhardt said, now in full attention of what Torbjorn had to say.

"My boss said they were bringing in Omnic labor to the assembly lines. He said it would be best if Omnics designed other Omnics since they know themselves better than humans. Really, I think it's because they know I'm too good for them."

"Of course my imp friend. Any factory would be happy to have you? So what are you going to do now? Find another factory job?"

"Erase factory from there and you have a better idea."

Both Reinhardt and Torbjorn sat on the couch, turning on the English-language news. The anchor read off the day's news

"Explosions simultaneously rocked the city centers of Mumbai, Johannesburg, Mexico City, and Jakarta today as hundreds of thousands are now estimated to be homeless or at the very least without basic amenities."

"Seems like every day, the world's getting worse and worse," Reinhardt said dourly. "And we can only do so much about it."

"Renewed violent Omnic activity is occurring in Russia. Omnics are believed to have taken control of some Siberian cities and are pushing towards Tatarstan and Chechneya.

"What would you do if the world got to the point where it got worse than when Overwatch started?" Torbjorn asked.

"I'd do the same thing I do when dealing with street punks. Demand justice as I reign my hammer down."

'And finally tonight, a break-in at the Overwatch museum showed some strange characters fighting for the doomfist gauntlet, and stopping them." Reinhardt and Torbjorn gave their full attention to the sceen.

"While the perpetrators themselves were a blue woman and a man in black robes and the skull mask, the defenders were a gorilla and a woman who appears to teleport." The footage on the screen caught the two of them by surprise, with Winston the gorilla and the girl they knew as Tracer fighting off the robbers.

"Is that Winston? And Lena?" Reinhardt asks.

Torbjorn looks at his message device, seeing the message Winston sent him.

"Hey Reinhardt?" Torbjorn asks. "You didn't get a message from the monkey, did you?"

 

2.

Winston and Lena returned to the Overwatch base in Gibraltar. It's been a few hours since they've stopped Widowmaker and Reaper from taking the Doomfist gauntlet, and Tracer still can't contain her excitement.

"Oi Winston," Lena says, "We sure gave them a show," as she blinks all around the scrambled main lab. "Reaper was all 'Death comes for you and I'm taking this gauntlet'" she said hanging upside down from one of the ledge bars. "And Widowmaker was like 'I'll just be hanging out up here while you get it,'" she said hanging from a light fixture.

"Calm down Lena," Winston said, typing on the main computer. "And get down from there. We have import business to go over."

Tracer blinked down to the floor and walked toward Winston "What business?" she said. "There's only two of us here."

"Not for long," Winston replied. He pulls up a video on the screen. It's the same footage that Torbjorn and Reinhardt watched of the museum incident. "If we are more out in the open the next time we fight Talon agents, it won't just be them coming after us."

"But the news clearly shows us stopping Reaper and Widowmaker from stealing the gauntlet," Lena remarked. It's bright as day. I don't think you're given humans enough credit in figuring out who the good guys are."

"I've been through enough Overwatch history to know how some people like to overreact to our presence," Winston said. He wanted to feel the same way Tracer does, all excited to be back in action. But they're lucky that the attack didn't result in any casualties or more property damage.

There's a beeping noise coming from the screen, with the computer saying, "Two new messages." Winston and Tracer both pay attention. It's Dr. Angela Ziegler, Mercy as she's better known. She was the former team doctor who went on to help crisis areas around the world. The prerecorded message has her talking from her home in Zurich, sitting on a coach and in front of wood paneling.

"Hello Winston, Dr. Ziegler here," the message starts off with. "I got your message about Overwatch coming back together. And I'm happy to say I'll be joining. By the time you get this message, I should be traveling over. Hopefully, the rest of the team will be there. Auf Wiedersehen." The message ends.

"One new message," the computer says immediately after. This one is from Mei-Ling Zhou, the Chinese climatologist who was once frozen at an Overwatch outpost in Antarctica. Her video was clearly shot at an airport as she was waiting for her flight. Typical of Mei. Leaving important things undone until the last minute.

"Hello, is this thing working?" Mei said into the recording device as she was adjusting the camera, trying out various different angles before settling on just a straight-on shot of her. "Winston, if you get this message, you can clearly see I'm at an airport right now in Xi'an. I'm on my way back to you Overwatch guys. Oh, my flight is boarding. See you all soon. Zaijian. Zaijian." The computer screen goes back to normal.

"How many messages did you send out, Winston?" Lena asked.

"To every Overwatch member in the database, living or dead," Winston responded.

"Why the dead ones if they're, you know, dead?"

"It doesn't hurt to try. I wouldn't be surprised given the amount of enemies we've made if someone tried to fake their deaths to escape."

"Oh Winston," Lena said as she started teleporting around the room again. "The team's coming back together! We're going to save the world so many times again. Talon won't know what hit them! Those wankers won't see us coming from a mile away when storm them all over!"

Again, Winston wanted to share the same jubilation Lena has. But since he was the one who sent out the messages, he had to wait and see who responded back. What if no one else did? What if this team doesn't work out?

 

3.

The limousine entourage travelling down Sunset Boulevard was right on schedule and should reach the Mandarin Theatre a good 45 minutes ahead of the screening. While the motorcade was the moving along smoothly, the atmosphere inside one of the limos was anything but.

Hal-Fred Glitchbot, the famous Omnic film director, started out the window at the famous homes and buildings before they entered downtown Hollywood. His new film, "Six-Gun Killer," was sure to be a success given his previous film, "They Came from Beyond the Moon," was a landmark in Omnic cinema. It became the first Omnic-directed film to be nominated for any sort of award. Granted not for any Academy Awards, but any progress is progress. It wasn't the premiere himself that worried him. It was his bodyguard sitting across from him that was giving him trouble.

Jesse McCree, former Blackwatch agent and current gunslinger for hire, kept a constantly full glass of the limo's liquor. It became a concern of Glitchbot's for the wrong reason.

"Must you drink everything that's in here?" Glitchbot asked. "Pretty soon you'll have to jump to the limo in front for more."

"No, the supply in here is fine," McCree responded. "Since it's your event, I'm sure you can cover all of it."

"Omnics don't drink, you know that. This is all coming out of your paycheck."

"Funny how you think of it as a paycheck. You should still owe me more in royalties."

"McCree, we've been over this. The movie isn't based on you. It's a fictional creation. Rooster Cogbot is just an amalgamation of different cowboys."

"You know that if it weren't for my exploits, people would not have remembered cowboys were a part of America's past."

"Ah yes, because people pay attention to what a former secret agent with a BAMF belt buckle does on his secret assignments."

McCree had to deal with insults like that everyday he spent as Glitchbot's bodyguard. And everyday he heard these, he thought to himself how much of a better man he was than to have to deal with petty Omnic insults.

"You know Glitchbot? Once this night is done, I'm done being your escort everywhere. I'm going someplace where my talents can be appreciated."

"No you won't. That's just the liquor talking. I told you you were drinking too much. How can you humans suckle down so much of this poison?"

"It helps us forget the times we've been screwed over by the bossman."

Glitchbot moves in closer to McCree. "Look Jesse, we're almost at the Theatre now. All I'm asking from you is to keep me protected. To stop anyone that tried to harm me. That's all I'm saying. If you do want to leave, well, I'll give you a generous financial package. But only if I'm completely unharmed. You got that?"

Their limo stops in front of the theatre, with the fans, celebrities, and paparazzi waiting for Glitchbot to make his entrance.

"Alright, you can have you special event," McCree said waiting to leave. "But again, I'm hightailing it out of here once it's done."

Glitchbot couldn't respond since the limo door opened. The two got out and walked down the red carpet to the theatre entrance, McCree behind Glitchbot. But there weren't just adoring fans there. A fair number of protestors were there too. They were holding signs that said, "Not your history," "Omnics don't understand film," and "Leave art to the humans." The cheers and jeering melded so perfectly together that Glitchbot has a hard time telling what was coming from where.

Then, six of the protestors broke through a security barrier, rushing to Glitchbot. McCree tried to hold the ones coming from behind off, but his fists couldn't do enough frontier justice in this fight. All six had rushed Glitchbot and knocked him to the ground, kicking him repeatedly. They were shouting insults as they kick him like "Where are your built in guns now?" "You machines don't know what makes film special," and "Why can't Omnics make films about their own history? Because they don't have any!"

McCree, lying on the floor a few feet away from the violence, pulled out his pistol. Without looking down the barrel to see if his aim was true, McCree's six bullets managed to hit all their targets. The protestors lay on the ground moaning in pain while ssecurity carried them away from the crowd. Glitchbot gets himself up, his left arm severely broken.

"Hey look," McCree said as he stood up. "We have matching broken arms."

"McCree!" Glitchbot yelled. "You can forget the package I promised you. Because you're fired! All that booze must've gotten to you because you didn't stop a single one of those thugs."

"Did you not see how I managed to shoot them all while drunk?"

Glitchbot didn't acknowledge the last remark as he walked towards the entrance. "Security," Glitchbot told the door guards while pointing at McCree. "See to it that man isn't allowed inside."

McCree, embarrassed by what happened, walked away from the theatre towards the closest train stop. He thought about how he might be losing his touch. If the bodyguard business is something he really wanted to be involved in. Did the world really need a man dressed up as a 200-year-old relic? The questions kept running through his head as he got off the train at the stop near his apartment. Once he was inside, he turned on the news. The reports continued to show footage of Winston and Lena fighting off Reaper and Widowmaker, angling it as the return of some good to the world. Other reports dealt with rising militaristic Omnic activity in Russia and mysterious explosions in the cities of Johannesburg, Mumbai, Jakarta, and Mexico City. Seeing the TV footage make McCree pick up his message device, where he played back the message he received from Winston. After listening to it twice, McCree decided to point it as himself and hit the record button.

 

4.

Upon returning to the Talon headquarters, Reaper and his men were reprimanded for blotching their recent operations. The higher ups at Talon have lost faith in the man who hides himself behind a skull mask and black robes to carry out operations on his own. So he was given another assignment. Reaper and his associate Sombra will be going out to recruit new associates. It was not an assignment Reaper was happy with, as he preferred to work alone. And when he was part of a group on missions, he felt like he needed to be the one in charge. But this time, he was fine taking a break from combat missions, as Overwatch appearing so quickly to stop the museum robbery caught him off guard.

In one of the Talon male locker rooms, some of Reaper's men talk about the punishment he just received.

"Reaper doing diplomacy missions? That something he's just not good at."

"Well at least get a break from him talking about how much he hates Jack Morrison and saying 'Die, die die.'"

"Who's going to be our commander then? Widowmaker?"

"You kidding? She's more of a lone wolf than Reaper. Sniping on rooftops. Sneaking in on her targets. Singing to herself."

"Wait, what was that last part?"

"You didn't know? She sings to herself in French. Some guys say she's possessed by the ghost of her husband."

"Ghosts? Really?"

"Yeah. And that's why her skin is blue. Her dead husband's soul tried to freeze her to death, but failed."

One of the high-ranking Talon officials overhears this conversation and joins in. "Comrade, I was there when Talon made Widowmaker's skin blue. They made her heart run at 45 beats per minute to dull her emotional reactions.

"And what about the singing? Is that something you did to her as well?"

The official takes a few extra seconds to respond, "Well, you got me there. We don't know why she does that. All I can say is she sings when she thinks she's alone."

Meanwhile, in the women's locker room, Widowmaker is taking a shower, recovering from the blotched museum mission. Dealing with that annoying British girl again who teleports wouldn't be a problem again. She would make sure of it next time they met.

Her routine isn't all that dissimilar from regular people. She cleans her body with body wash gel and hair with shampoo. And like most humans, she sings to herself in the shower.

"Les gens me demandent pourquoi je ne trouve jamais un endroit pour arrêter et s'installer, vers le bas, vers le bas. (People ask me why I never find a place to stop and settle down, down, down)

Mais je ne voulais plus jamais toutes ces choses les gens ont besoin pour justifier leurs vies, des vies, des vies." (I never needed all those things people need to justify their lives, lives, lives

It was an old French song stuck in Widowmaker's head, but she didn't know why. She didn't know why songs came out of her mouth when she was alone, or at least thought she was. There were images going around in her head as well as she continued to sing when she got out of the shower, dried herself off, and stared at her reflection in a mirror above a sink.

"Que nous sommes nés, né pour être vivant." (Cause we were born, born to be alive)

The images were of events Widowmaker couldn't recognize. A bright sunny day. A picnic in a park in Annecy. Boat riding on Lake Geneva. Fancy dinners in Lyon. And the face of a man she couldn't quite make out. None of it made sense. She was a perfect killing machine. She couldn't possibly have such sweet memories floating around her head. Yet there they were.

Widowmaker briefly admired the tattoo on her right arm, saying "cauchemar," the French word for "nightmare." "Que vais-je faire avec vous?" (What am I going to do with you?) Widowmaker asked her reflection as she dragged a comb through her long, blue hair.

 

5.

Fareeha Amari, the soldier known as Pharah, expected a typical day of duty. Her employers, Helix security, needed extra protection after an Omnic intelligence they were guarding in the Temple of Anubis went haywire. Pharah managed to put an end to the threat, but the backlash was immediate. People in Cairo were saying the Omnic intelligence should be shut down, posing too great a threat to the people of Egypt and the historical landmarks.

On this day, Fareeha was guarding her boss as he prepared to make a speech addressing the situation at Helix headquarters. The need for protection is necessary, but having your bodyguard be a woman in a metal suit capable of flight and shooting rocket barrages didn't inspire the onlookers this would be a peaceful event.

The Helix CEO reached the podium to make his speech. "Murhiba. Qad yakun alllah maeak. (Hello. May God be with you) Recently there was an incident regarding the Omnic intelligence resting in the Temple of Anubis. I'm here to say the facility will not be shut down."

With the last sentence, protestors started to rush the stage, with Fareeha alternating between throwing them back and aiming her rocket arm at the crowd.

"This facility is vital to the world's understanding of Omnic intelligence. If we can understand what made it go haywire in the first place, we can prevent a future incident from happening again."

Amid the speech and the jeering from the crowd, gunshots rang out. The CEO was hit by one of the bullets, falling to the stage, wincing in pain from his left shoulder.

Fareeha saw one of gunmen on a rooftop three blocks away. She activated her flight pack and landed on a nearby rooftop. She could see five men jumping across the rooftops away from the scene of the crime, and gave them pursuit.

"Tawaqquf! (Stop!) In the name of the law!" Fareeha yelled as she approached the assassins. One of them turned towards her with a laser submachine gun and started firing at her. The laser did no more than warm up Fareeha's suit, which, in the middle of the Cairo heat, was still an inconvenience. She knocked the one gunman away off the roof onto the street below.

The four remaining gunmen continued leaping across the rooftops. Fareeha flew into the air to give better chase, firing her rockets down on them. Granted the rockets destroyed whatever innocent items were in their blast radius, but that wasn't on Fareeha's mind at the moment. Only getting the people who shot her boss.

Another one of her rockets managed to knock another gunman off the rooftops onto the streets below. Fareeha decided this chase was taking too long, so she flew higher into the air and activated her rocket barrage.

"Al'amtar aleadalat min fawq!" (Justice rains from above!) Fareeha shouted. When all her rockets had been fired, she plenty of destroyed rooftops with the top floors of some buildings exposed. But there were the three men she was after, lying dead in their tracks.

As Fareeha landed on the rooftop with the three bodies, one was still moving. With face and hands bleeding out, he crawled closer and closer to the rooftop's edge, ready to go over. Fareeha put a stop to that idea as she picked him up and held him by his chest area.

"Who are you? Who do you work for? Why did you shoot at my boss?" Fareeha questioned angrily in quick succession.

The gunmen spoke in a drawn out voice, no doubt from the bleeding he suffered. "He was going to ruin our plans. We need the Omnic chaos to spread."

"Who does? Who do you work for?"

Before the gunman could say anymore, a bullet when through his head faster than Fareeha could comprehend. She dropped the body, now with a hole clean through the man's cranium, and looked around for any snipers. But she couldn't see any.

When Fareeha got back to headquarters, the CEO was being attended to and was prepared to be loaded into an ambulance. He gives Fareeha the rest of the day off for her dedication. As he was loaded inside and ambulance drives away, Fareeha flew towards her apartment, with plenty of questions running around her head about what the gunman said. What Omnic chaos? Does it have to do with what's happening in Russia? Those other explosions? She would need to sleep on it before investigating further.

She entered her apartment building and walked up the stairs like every other tenant there. She had no trouble at all moving around in her suit in tighter spaces like this, having done so for years. But as she reached her room on the third floor, she saw her door was slightly ajar. After what had happened today, Fareeha was taking no chances. She approached the door and moved it open slowly with her rocket arm out, but stopped doing so when she saw an old woman with an eye patch sitting on a chair in the middle of the room.

"It's a shame really," the old woman said. "I expected my daughter to become more than some corporation's lackey."

Her daughter? Was that what this old woman said? But that's impossible. She's supposed to be dead. Shot through the head by an enemy sniper.

"'Ami?" (Mom) Fareeha questioned.

"Yes Fareeha," said the mother, Ana. "Mother's home."

Something clicked in Fareeha's mind she just had to ask. "Did you snipe the man I after today?"

"Oh please, that man wasn't going to tell you anything of value. And get out of that robot suit of yours. But that's not important right now."

Fareeha interrupted her, "We all thought you were dead."

"Yes, and now is the time to get rid of that lie. Listen. This will lead you to what you want." Ana stood up and pulled out a recording device, showing Fareeha the message she received from Winston. Fareeha, in the meantime, stepped out of her suit. "It must be like a dream to you," Ana said as the recording finished. "The team you wanted to be so much a part of together again."

"Why are you here? Why are you telling me this? Why did you lie to me?"

"I plan on going back to Gibraltar to be part of this team again. The least I could do is invite my daughter, who's become quite the soldier I must say."

"But why did you lie to all of us?"

Ana shifted her tone to be more consolatory, "Because humanity was turning against Overwatch. Gabriel and Jack were at each other's throats. It was better to go underground."

"Oh, and now's the perfect time to show up again," Fareeha said sarcastically.

"You watch that tone with me. Besides, this is something you've always wanted to be a part of."

"That was just a dream I had as a child. Besides, I do plenty of good now with Helix."

"Given what I saw today from your rooftop chase and the crowds you held back, you're nothing more than a hired goon. And what wrong with embracing your childhood fantasies? At least you know where you stand if you come with me. There's something dangerous brewing in the world right now, and you'd be better off by my side than an inactive company pawn. You say you fight for justice? Well prove it."

Fareeha took a while to ponder the matter. After a few minutes, Fareeha hugged her mother for the first time in years.

"It's good to see you again, Mom."

"I take it this means yes?"

 

6.

The Mexican jungle outside of Dorado was filled with laughter. Criminals running the local drug ring celebrate the day's business. They talk about new shipments of heroin and cocaine, big scores they looted from pretender drug dealers, and what women they'd like to spend their earnings on. A good ol' party far away from the city.

One of the gangsters decides to go take a leak. He walks away far into the woods where none of the light from the campfire could reach him. He was the kind of person who didn't need his friends peering at his dick. As he made his way and found a suitable enough tree to piss on, he noticed an odd red light. Putting aside his need to pee for a few seconds, he went further into the woods to find the source. As he came closer and closer to the red light, he found the source. An odd shaped visor complete with a red lens, nose and mouth cover. He picks up the visor to look inside, seeing the world through red, with tactical information displayed on both sides. He finds out how to switch to heat vision, which showed a man walking towards him with a gun.

"That's my visor you got on," the man said in a deep, rusty voice before shooting the gangster.

The other gangsters hear the shots and draw their guns. They don't move towards the shots since it caught them so much off guard. After standing for only a few minutes, but what must have felt like hours, a flashbang flies at the gangsters and blinds them. The man in the woods charged into the camp, now wearing the visor, alternating between shooting the thugs and punching them to the ground. The ones who regained their sight were shooting at the man. But despite the fact his visor left his greying hair exposed, he was faster than they could manage.

When they were all on the ground wallowing in pain, the figure walked up to one of them, pointing his heavy-duty submachine gun at him.

"What do you know about Gabriel Reyes?" the figure asked.

"Who?" the gangster responded. "Man, I have no idea what're talking about."

"I know Reyes and Sombra have an operation here. Using drugs to fund their Talon activities. Now I'll ask you again. What do you know about Reyes?"

"I'm telling you, I have no idea. I'm just a drug pusher. I don't ask questions about my bosses."

"Your bosses? So you do work for them?"

"I swear I know nothing. I know nothing! I know," the gangster's sentence was cut off as the figure shot him in the face.

"Does anyone else here know anything?" the man asked to a crowd of moaning. "Tough luck then." The man took one of the logs from the campfire and threw it at one of the cars. As the fire spread in the car, waiting to explode and spread the fire even further, the last thing the thugs saw was the back of the man's jacket, bearing the number 76.

 

7.

Fareeha and Ana arrived at the Overwatch Gibraltar base. Getting a flight from Egypt to Gibraltar was the easy part. Making their way to the believed to be abandoned base was the hard part for Ana, having not been near any Overwatch base since she went into hiding.

"I never thought I'd see this place again," Ana said as they made their way to the southern tip of the peninsula. "Oh the missions I had that started here."

"I thought the Overwatch base was destroyed," Fareeha said. "And in Switzerland."

"Overwatch had many bases, child. This might be the only one still intact."

On the base's grounds, they walk towards a group of 5 people already there. Strange faces to Fareeha, but old friends to Ana.

"Ana!" Reinhardt said as he saw the woman and gave her a bear hug. "I missed you so much! When I heard you were dead, I cried myself to sleep for days."

"It's good to see you too, Herr Reinhardt," Ana said, quite flattered.

"And who is this fair fraulein you brought with you?"

"Everyone, you remember my daughter Fareeha right? Well she's here to join the team."

Ana went about introducing Fareeha to the rest of the team, reminding her of the people she once recognized as a child.

"This is Angela Ziegler, our resident doctor who's come up with quite the medical breakthroughs. That's Jesse McCree, a silly American traditionalist. But he's quite good with a gun. That's Mei-Ling Zhou, a Chinese ice scientist who in my opinion spends too much time inside. Reinhardt you've already been acquainted with. And there's Torbjorn, a real life dwarf."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Fareeha said once the introductions were over. They all said it was a privilege to meet her in response.

Lena dashed out to the assembled group hugging and shaking everyone's hands as fast she could, "Hi McCree. Aw, you're still sporting that cowboy look. It suits you love. Dr. Ziegler! You look as young as the first time I saw you. And Mei! Sweet adorable Mei. Playing with ice as I recall. Torbjorn! You garden gnome! How've you been? Reinhardt! The man in the armor! Hope you haven't gotten too old for lugging that armor around? Ana! Oh my god you're still alive! It's so wonderful to see you again. Who's this lady you brought with you?"

"Lena," Ana responded. "It's good to see you too. Still chirpy as ever. This is my daughter Fareeha. She'll be joining us as well. She has proper military experience and wanted to be part of Overwatch since she was a little girl."

"Mom, she doesn't need to know that," Fareeha said with the tone of a teenager.

"Aw, is that true, love?" Lena asked. "Well you're part of the team now, so you get to be that young self of yours again. Now if I can just have everyone's attention, I need to go fetch Winston. He has himself another speech prepared for us."

Lena raced back inside to find Winston sitting in front of his computer, immobile.

"Winston dear," Lena said. "Everyone's here waiting outside. I told them you had a proper speech ready to go."

Winston hesitates before responding, having the same hesitation as he speaks, "N-no I don't have anything prepared. Maybe you should send them away until tomorrow."

"Winston, ol' chap. You sent messages out to these people. Bringing Overwatch together again was your idea. And now you can't face these people you've had conversations with before?"

'Well what if this was a mistake, Lena? What if Overwatch falls apart like it did before? What if we fail? What if the world doesn't need heroes like us anymore?

"Now listen here, big guy. Surely if you found the strength inside of you to call these people together, you at least have it inside yourself to talk to them. And don't say to yourself for a minute the world doesn't need heroes like us. It needs us more than ever. If it didn't, we wouldn't be here."

Winston got out of his chair, put on his glasses and picked up the speech he was working on from the table.

"Um, buddy," Lena said. "As far as speeches go, you're not necessarily the best at giving scripted ones. How about you leave this one here and just say what's inside yourself?"

Winston lets Lena put his script down on the table. "Alright then, I'll tell everyone you're ready now."

Lena blinked back outside, with everyone still talking to each other. She whistles to get their attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Lena started out loudly. "He's the world's smartest gorilla. Our foremost expert in bananas and peanut butter. He's seen more of the moon than any of us." Her introduction was interrupted as Winston appears behind her and taps her shoulder, motioning at her to stop.

"Well, here's Winston everyone," Lena said to the crowd. "Go knock 'em dead," she says to Winston before joining the group.

With the 8 people looking at him, Winston took Lena's advice and started talking from what was inside himself.

"When I look out at what's assembled before me, I see people of all walks of humanity who've already achieved great things with their lives. Enough for a hundred lifetimes of any normal human. But now, I'm asking you all to come back help the world again. Omnics are rising up again. Talon no doubt has more nefarious activities planned. And we need to be active in a way normal forces can't be. We need to show the world still can have a use for heroes."

The small crowds claps as Winston finishes. Lena whistles some more and says "Atta boy, Winston!"

"Now," Winston continued. "Let's get started."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack: 
> 
> Hooked on a Feeling - David Hasselhoff 
> 
> Born to be Alive - Patrick Hernandez 
> 
> The Dream Police - Cheap Trick 


	2. Spice Up Your Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The U.N. starts getting questions about Overwatch. Zarya fights off Omnics in Russia. Reaper has a new mission. Tracer and Pharah bond. Symmetra meets a mysterious figure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter of the day. Again, this was already published on fanfiction.net, so I'm just bringing the archiveofourown readers up to speed before adding new stuff.

1.

The secretary general of the U.N., Taonga Arendse, walked down a hallways towards the media room. He did not want to face the press at all, since he had a feeling they'd ask why these terrorists are taking so long to be accountable. Did they not know these things take time? We solve matters with diplomacy. This is not diplomacy.

As Arendse arrived at the podium, reporters started raising their hands up. Flashlights went off from the pictures taken, and he already started to sweat from the lights.

"Alright then," Arendse said in his thick, sub-Saharan accent. "I'm here to take questions about the U.N. response to the bombings in Mumbai, Jakarta, Johannesburg, and Mexico City, and nothing else."

"What aid efforts are being undertaken?" asked the first reporter called on.

"Aid workers from 40 countries will be sent out to provide medical care to the displaced individuals," Arsendse started out. "The Vishtar Corporation is currently in talks to replace the destroyed housing and businesses."

"Are there any leads as to what caused these?" another reporter asked?

"We are investigating all possible leads. The most promising so far deal with Omnics and Talon."

"Do you have anything to say regarding the rumors that Overwatch is up and running again?" a reporter towards the back of the room asked.

Arendse was caught off-guard by the question. "That is off-topic from what I said I would be discussing."

"But the attack in the Overwatch museum involved known former agents Tracer and Winston."

"Overwatch activity has been outlawed by the Petras act. Any activity done in the name of Overwatch will be punished. But I am not addressing that. I'm talking about humanitarian efforts."

"But if these former agents are acting in the name of an outlawed organization,"

"Alright, no more questions will be taken," Arendse said as he walked away from the podium. The reporters started shouting more questions, through more now dealt with Overwatch.

Arendse walked back to his strategy room furiously. His associates, Denisa Dumitrescu of Romania and Shahnaz Amirmoez of Iran, waited in the room hoping the press conference went well. The look on Arendse's face said otherwise.

"So, how did it go?" Amirmoez asked.

"Awful," Arsendse responded as he sat down at his desk. "They didn't ask about our relief efforts. They wanted to know how we are dealing with Overwatch."

"Well," Dumitrescu asked, "are we doing something about it?"

"I didn't recall Overwatch. That's not my concern."

"You don't necessarily have to be the one to do that, sir. Any agent with access to the recall program can do so."

"They're still not my concern. As long as they don't stir up any trouble."

"Aside from the museum incident," Amirmoez went on to say, "reports are showing someone fitting Tracer's profile was present at Mondatta's assassination."

"So someone who could teleport around? It's the 2070's, man. People have been working on that technology for decades."

"Sir," Dumitrescu interjected. "Regardless of your feelings, we have to be prepared if something like this does happen. Given the amount of crises we're dealing with, some agents are likely to show up again."

'Why should I interfere in what they do? Especially if it makes my job easier?"

"The law is the law. And it's part of the law of the world peacekeeping organization you are a part of."

"Just get back to your work," Arsende said as she got back to his computer. As his assistants got back to their work, he pulled up a list of all the past Overwatch agents, living and dead.

2.

"My main theory is Talon," Winston said during his address to the group in the main computer room. "They're manipulating the Omnics in a way that distracts the world from their main terrorist activities."

"Do you have any proof of that?" Torbjorn rebuttled. "And it's not just Omnics having themselves another existential crisis?"

"Well, . . . no. No hard facts. Just theories."

"Ah, best be packing up everyone. The monkey who's supposed to be smarter than us is stumped!"

"Quiet, Torbjorn," Ana said to shut the dwarf up. "We need to hear what he has to say."

"Okay," Winston continued. "Here's the evidence I have so far. Right now, there's sizable fighting happening in Russia, with Omnics moving westward from Siberia. Their targets aren't the same as they were the first time. Before, they would strike at whatever human population center was nearby. Now, the attacks appear to be calculated and have thought put into them."

"You do know," Reinhardt pointed out, "that it didn't take the Omnics until after the war was over to start making truly intelligent decisions. Maybe they just have better battle plans."

"That's a possibility," Winston said. "But there are still parts of it that don't make sense. Look at how they attacked cities like Omsk, Ufa, and Kazan. They only attacked the various industrial centers, trying to steer clear of residential areas where they could."

"I must say," McCree interjected. "That is peculiar."

"Then there are the attacks that fit more in line with the traditional Omnic style. Indiscriminate explosions. Killing randomly instead of specific targets."

"What makes you think these aren't just regular Omnics doing their regular attacks?" Fareeha asked.

"Last I checked, since the end of the first crisis, Omnics only fight in self-defense. They want no more to hurt a human than you would to a family pet."

"So they are or aren't connected?" Zeigler asked.

"They most likely are, as Talon is waging a war on multiple fronts, trying to keep the world in as much chaos as they can muster. On one hand, they're assassinating any leaders to try to make peace across this divide, like Mondatta in London. On the other, they're controlling the Omnics and having them do certain attacks to both stir up renewed fears. With all sides distracted, Talon can get away with most of their other schemes. Maybe they're planning something bigger."

Once the information had settled in, Ana spoke out. "Okay Winston. So if these theories you have are true, what can the 9 of us do? The Overwatch of old had hundreds of operatives working around the world. And I don't think we have the power or leeway to achieve that."

"Right you are Ana," Winston responded. "That's why I took it upon myself to scout out some new recruits in case something like this happened. We can't possibly go up against Talon this soon. So I'll be giving some of you missions to find these individuals in the meantime."

3.

On the outskirts of St. Petersburg, Russia, a group of Omnics are marching towards the city. Their target, Volskaya Industries. Long a builder of human piloted mechs that helped the fight during the first Omnic crisis, Volskya industries was now on overdrive producing more and more mechs by the day to combat the new threat.

In the suburb of Kolpino, Russian defense forces had set up a base as they suspected the Omnics would follow the Neva river to factories in Metallostroy. Sure enough, at midday, the marching Omnics came to a head with the military. But on the flat terrain outside of St. Petersburg, a wide, tall mound of dirt and snow stood in their way. The Russian forces shoot their laser rifles from on high while the Omnics charged up, not at all concerned with finding a way around the mound.

As the troops relayed guns and ammunition to each other, along with destroying the occasional Omnic that got close to the top, a new squadron arrived. Dressed in white burly coats, white fur hats, and tan goggles, they march to towards the front, carrying an heavy experimental particle cannon. They were lead by one of the rising stars of the Russian military. Aleksandra Zaryanova.

Aleksandra, known as Zarya by most, had been part of the Russian military only for a brief time, enlisting when the Omnic attacks started up again. But she quickly made herself valuable through her relentlessness on the front lines. She was one of a select few to test the particle cannons on the battlefield because her physique and desire to destroy the Omnics quickly.

Aleksandra climbed up to the top of the mound so she could stand there by herself, ordering the other men to stand down. From the top, with the cold seabreezes coming at her face, Aleksandra could see only a few hundred Omnics. No more than a recon force. They gave a brief pause to see what this burled up woman was going to do.

Aleksandra started her attack by firing particle grenades down, destroying Omnics in the blast radii. They started charging back uphill. Aleksandra switched on a particle barrier around her as the Omnics started to get closer and closer to her. Her laser cannon fended off any that got too close.

Alreksandra pressed a button on her cannon that shot something out towards the bottom of the hill. Something with a high gravitational that pulled all the Omnics inside it. Aleksandra motions for her troops to rise to the top of the mound. When they arrived and pointed their guns at the center of the gravity, she yelled out "Ogon' po gotovnosti!" (Fire at will!) The troops rained laser fire down on the Omnics, destroying those who haven't been crushed by the gravity well.

Aleksandra returned to base greeted with applause, with troops saying how this was a great victory and the Omnic won't return.

"Please, please," Aleksandra rebutted. "These Omnics will return or just strike somewhere else. I'm just glad this cannon works as it's supposed to."

Aleksandra left the troops to return to her tent. As she entered, she's startled to find a Chinese girl on the cot, Mei.

"Oh sorry," Mei said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"Oh no, it's not that, you're fine," Aleksandra said as she composed herself. "How did the soldiers know I liked Asian women?"

"What?" Mei said, confused at what Aleksandra meant before she realized. "Oh, no, no, no. I'm not one of those girls."

"Okay, good. Because that's something I prefer my men don't know about. How did you get here?

"I asked where I could meet with the great Aleksandra Zaryanova, and the troops lead me here."

"Little lady, this is an active war zone. We're trying to fight off the Omnics from destroying our factories."

"I know, that's why I'm here. I want to recruit you for Overwatch."

This caught Aleksandra's attention, as she then made sure no one outside was listening. "I thought Overwatch was disbanded."

"It did, but now we're sort of underground. Answering to nobody, fighting the good fight on our own, that sort of thing."

"So what do you want me for?"

"We know about how you were once the most promising female weightlifter to come out of Russia in a long time. And how you gave that up as you joined the military when Omnics started attacking again. We're working on putting an end to this too and we think your fighting experience would be a good fit for us."

"So you would just have me go from fighting Omnics here just to fight them somewhere else?"

"Not necessarily. We think they're being controlled by a terrorist group."

Aleksandra moved over to sit beside Mei. "As much as I would want to fight beside a cute thing as yourself, I must decline. There's too much work for me to do out here. And last I heard, any Overwatch activity is illegal. I do admire what they did greatly in helping Russia fight off the Omnics the first time, but I just can't accept."

A siren started to go off, alerting the base of more Omnics heading towards them.

"You can show yourself out," Aleksandra said she got up and walked towards the tent flaps leading outside. "If anything comes up here, I'll try to let your organization know."

4.

"You're going to Japan?" Widowmaker said in disbelief.

"Yeah," Reaper responded. "Don't think I'm happy about it."

Reaper was in Widowmaker's private room, and had just told her about his new assignment. She was one of the few people he could trust with any info. But since Sombra was on a mission, she was the only one available at the moment.

"Why would the leaders think you're any good at trying to sway people to our side? You're not that approachable carrying around those giant shotguns everywhere."

"The target is the leader of a prominent Yakuza clan. It would help give us a stronghold in the Far East."

"And how exactly do you plan on doing winning him over? Holding a gun to his head and saying 'death comes for you?'"

"I've gone out on many missions that don't require guns."

"Name one."

Reaper couldn't think of any. Too many missions did involve guns.

"And that voice of yours. I know you're going for the whole grim reaper thing, but sometimes you take it much too far."

"It's who I am now," Reaper said with this voice growing in volume as he went on. "My targets will all know to fear the man who wears the mask of death! The man who comes for them when,"

Widowmaker cut him off as she tried to take off his mask. Reaper worked to stop her from doing so, but she managed to knock off some of the clips holding it in place.

"Stop that," Reaper said once he finally got her to stop, making sure the mask was secure. "No one can see my face. It makes people less afraid."

"That's the problem," Widowmaker retorted. "I may not feel emotions the same way normal humans do, but I know how to get someone to trust you. And you can't do it behind a mask.

"What do you know about building trust, assassin?"

"You think my rifle is the only weapon I have to kill someone?" Widowmaker said as she flaunted her body. She wasn't wearing the skintight outfit she usually wears when going on missions, but the shirt and pants she wore showed off plenty of her curves. "Now when you meet this Yakuza guy, the least you can do is show him your face. This guy doesn't know what you look like. It won't be a big deal."

"But the world is supposed to think I'm dead. What if he figures out who I am?"

"If we're going to be working with the Japanese mob, having secrets is not the way to a formidable alliance."

One of the devices in Widowmaker's room started giving off a noise, and she went to check. She received a message about a new mission. A new target to assassinate.

When the message ended, Widowmaker said "Well Monsieur Reaper, you can figure how to best approach this on your own. I have a mission to go on."

"Where?" Reaper asked.

"Greece. Some activist preparing to make a speech at the Lijang conference. You're going to be heading there, right?"

"I should be if everything stays on track."

"Good. And bring the Yakuza guy along. It will give him a taste of our power."

5.

Fareeha laid out some clothes for her to wear when she went to bed. She still thought she was crazy for taking mother up on this offer. And she hadn't gone on any missions yet. Still, it was nice for her to get a glimpse into this part of life mother never told her about.

As she went to the women's bathroom to take a shower, she thought of all the people she admired and heard so much about walked down these hallways. Not just those she met already, like Reinhardt, Torbjorn, and Dr. Zeigler, but Jack Morrison, Gabriel Reyes, and Liao. What were their lives like here? What were the other bases like?

Fareeha got undressed and pushed the buttons to turn the shower on. Temperature set to 100 degrees. Considering the base was abandoned for so long, it impressed Fareeha that basic functions like this still worked.

Fareeha had been enjoying this shower on her own when she heard someone one walk into the bathroom, undress, and turn on the next shower over. She didn't mind at first, but then that person started to sing.

"Colours of the world, spice up your life! Every boy and every girl, spice up your life! People of the world, spice up your life!"

That British accent could only come from Lena, with the footsteps against the pattering of the water on the floor suggesting she was dancing to her words. This amused Fareeha and wanted to see how long this would last.

"Slam it to the left, if you're havin' a good time. Shake it to the right, if ya know that you feel fine, Chicas to the front, ha ha. Hai Si Ja, hold tight."

Fareeha had had enough. "You know Lena, you should go onto one of those singing competitions you Europeans seem to have so much of."

Lena, startled by the voice, nearly slipped, but caught herself in time. "Oi Fareeha!" Lena said. " Is that you? I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were here."

"It's alright Lena," Fareeha responded. "It certainly entertained me."

"I could do some more. Yo, I'll tell you I want, what I really really want!"

"No, please stop!" Fareeha said as she laughed. She turned the shower off and stepped out to dry herself off. At the sink Fareeha stood at with her towel wrapped around her body, she noticed Lena's chronal accelerator placed on the sink next to hers. Lena continued to sing.

"Why you gotta play that song so loud? Because we want to, because we want to! Why always run around in crowds?"

"Hey Lena, can I ask you something?" Fareeha said.

"Sure love, what is it?" Tracer responded.

"How come you're not wearing your chronal accelerator right now?"

"Oh, that's something Winston did upgrades on. I don't have to wear it constantly anymore. It gives off a temporal field my body has to be in range of so I don't blink off accidently. As long as it's running properly, I'll be fine."

Fareeha started to run her hands down the device, "So is there a knob or a button somewhere?"

"Don't touch that!" Lena shouted rushing out of the shower, hoping to stop Fareeha. She covered up the accelerator with her slender, naked body. "You don't know how to work this thing!"

"Okay, okay sorry," Fareeha said before whispering, "You might want to put something on."

"Oh," Lena said as she realized she was naked in front this person she hardly knew. She put on her towel and turned her shower off. "Well then. Now you know I don't mess around with this thing," Lena said as she dried herself off. "One miscalculation or defect could send me to some unknown time period."

Fareeha started putting her evening clothes on as she continued the conversation. "I don't think my mother explained why that's the case."

Lena continued to dry herself off, not minding what parts of her Fareeha saw. "She didn't? It's the stuff of Overwatch legend. I was the best young pilot the RAF had seen in a long time. When I joined Overwatch, I was picked to pilot an aircraft called the Slipstream. The first time I flew it, it sent me to a place of temporal anomalies I couldn't describe, but it make my body out of sync with the normal timeflow. Luckily when I finally came back, Winston made this chronal accelerator to keep me here in the present."

"So why did you come back?"

"What do you mean?"

"When Winston initiated the recall, you were the first one to come back. Why so fast?"

At this point, Lena started to put her pajamas, strapping the accelerator over her top. "There's no way I could live a normal life having to keep this thing on me all the time. Settling down with some bloke wasn't in the cards. Believe me, I tired. I take to being a hero much to easily not to let it pass me by. Plus the accelerator has practical use in fighting the bad guys."

Fareeha started to feel sorry for Lena. Herself, she just had a powerful suit of armor she could take off anytime when she came home. This woman needed a special device to keep on her from flying off to some distant time. She tried imagining what Lena settling down would be like. She couldn't. Lena's personality alone would prove hard for someone to tether down. She couldn't imagine the complications of her condition entering the picture.

"What about you, mate?" Lena asked as she was fully dressed. "You have any Egyptian army stories?"

As Fareeha was about to start, Dr. Zeigler entered the bathroom knowing the two of them would be in there. "Oxton, Amari," Zeigler said. "Winston wants to see the both you. You have your first assignments."

6.

The model city of Utopea, India. Home of the Vishkar Corporation. Specializing in a new wave of sustainable project developments in both the developing world and areas affected by Omnic attacks. Despite the noble intentions, Vishkar has been known to engage in dubious activities in order to secure lucrative contracts and to showcase their radical hard-light technology.

On this day, members of Talon were in talks with Vishkar to propose an alliance. The fine details had yet to be worked out, but Talon was proposing in the event of any destruction during the course of Talon operations, Vishkar would be assured they would have the chance to rebuild. In return, Vishkar would provide their technological prowess to Talon.

Two Talon members and two Vishkar representatives, Sunder Misra and Swarna Jain, were discussing this in a boardroom. When a final agreement was reached, one of Vishkar's main architects, Satya Vaswani, stormed in, having just found out what was happening.

"When was I going to be told this?" Satya asked, "that we're going to work with terrorists?"

"Satya," Jain said as he tried to reason with her. "We can discuss this later. It will be beneficial for both sides."

"You're agreeing to aid them in destroying cities. We don't stand for actively eliminating people's livelihood just to further our own. For all we know, they could planning to attack all of our developments right now."

"Talon can assure this company we're working in its best interests," one of the Talon men said. "We're trying to make a better world like you are."

"Talon can do no more than serve their own ends. These men are no more than chipkail ke gaand ke pasine (sweat of a lizard's ass). Send them back where they came from."

"Tsk, tsk. I thought Indians were renowned for their hospitality," said a new voice that entered the room. Symmetra was caught off-guard by this new individual. A woman from some Latin American country given her accent, but she just wore a black hood to hide her face and a bag she was carrying. There seemed to be beeping coming from her chest, but that was covered too.

"Apologies I wasn't present earlier," the woman continued. "I thought these huevons (idiots) could handle this arrangement on their own. But apparently not. You, however, seem quite feisty and adamant. You'd be a fine addition to Talon."

"I'm sorry," Satya said. "Should I know you?"

"The name's Sombra," the woman responded. "And everyone will know that name soon."

Sombra sat down at the table, pulled out her computer from her bag and started typing.

"You say that Vishkar doesn't stand for destroying people's livelihoods. The footage I have says otherwise." She flipped the computer around the show Satya and the Vishkar representatives the footage. It was of security camera footage not shown on the news. In a slum of Johannesburg, an Indian man walked out of a tall shanty building. About 15 seconds later as he made a turn down the street, the building not only exploded, but the ground underneath it opened up a sinkhole, swallowing up the surrounding houses. The people who lived in the slum either ran away, fell down the hole, or were clinging onto the dirt as the floor continued to give way.

"This was one of those mysterious bombings the news has been talking about lately. Talon doesn't have this technology. I wonder who does. Does the same go with with the bombings in Jakarta? Mexico City? Me no gusta (I don't like). And Mumbai too? Your own gente (people), Satya? Or is it Symmetra? And what about this blotched operation of yours in Rio De Janerio? Stopped by a DJ on roller skates? Que embarazoso (How embarrassing)."

Satya became very nervous now, "Where did you get that? How did you know my codename?"

"Vishkar encryption was only slightly more difficult than what I'm used to."

"Satya," Misra said miserably. "This is the point we were trying to steer clear of. And we were trying to keep this on the down low from the employees."

Satya found herself in a tight spot. There nothing more she could say without compromising someone's position even further. "Okay, how can we make sure this isn't leaked?"

"Simple. You agree to help Talon and the footage doesn't get out. Of course, we'll hang onto it for safekeeping. You want order in this world? Talon can give it to you."

Satya couldn't believe the position she was in. Her company was being blackmailing into working with terrorists. The very definition of disorder. But Satya had been dealing with problematic situations like this all the time. She knew of several incidents Vishkar was involved with and viewed this as another one of those. Something she can hopefully get past. But maybe there could be something in this for her, or something she could sabotage.

"Okay," Satya said confidently. We have a deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack:
> 
> Spice Up Your Life - Spice Girls
> 
> Wannabe - Spice Girls
> 
> Because We want to - Billie Piper


	3. When the World is Running Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Widowmaker takes out a new target. D.va goes into battle. Zarya picks up some clues. Hanzo chooses a side. A trip to Nepal. Soldier 76 finishes up some business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter for the day. This one actually is of new material. Will try to update on a regular basis after this.

1.

Illios, Greece. A quaint island in the Aegean Sea. Mainly a seaside resort town where people could take strolls through the village, relax by the beach, or look at ancient Greek ruins. 

Widowmaker was here to find her target, Jason Xanthopoulos. He worked to resettle Omnic refugees on various Greek islands and helped set up their own communities. At the upcoming Lijang conference, he is scheduled to give a speech about his successes and how other countries can do the same. Sounds like someone is preaching peace. Needs to be eliminated.

Widowmaker made her way across the wooden and stone rooftops to find her target’s home. She found him in an apartment overlooking the ocean on a not-too-steep cliff. Widowmaker set herself up hiding behind the chimney of a house across the street. She set the scopes on her rifle through the open window. She could see Jason working on his speech at a desk. 

While adjusting her aim, Widowmaker started singing a song to herself.

“Ça c'est l'histoire, De Melody Nelson. Qu'à part moi-même personne, N'a jamais pris dans ses bras. Ça vous étonne, Mais c'est comme ça.”

The same memories running through Widowmaker’s head before are doing so again. She could see a boat ride on Lake Geneva with the mountaintops covered in fog. The smell of vineyards in Bordeaux. The Mediterranean waves brushing up against her legs in Marseille. 

Again, and again, Widowmaker kept seeing that handsome face beside her. Who was that? she kept thinking to herself. Did she love this man? Was he a target she had to seduce? Why was he taking her on all these romantic getaways?

No, can’t focus on that now, Widowmaker thought to herself. Must stick to the mission. Worry about that later.

Jason decided to sit by the window, partaking in a cool evening breeze. Widowmaker made the final preparations for her shot. She continued to sing.

“Elle avait de l’amour, pauvre Melody Nelson. Ouis, elle en avait des tonnes. Mais ses jours etaient comptes.”

Jason’s head was hanging outside the window frame, so his bald scalp could feel the wind better.

“Quatorze automnes,” Widowmaker said as she pulled the trigger. The bullet hitting Jason in the back of the head with such force, his body flew out of the chair, leaving a smear of blood on the floor.

“Et quinze etes.” 

Widowmaker packed up her rifle quickly in order to make her proper escape. No doubt someone heard that gunshot. She saw some lights flick on as she shot out her grappling hook to make her way across a gap in rooftops. She did run across some that had people on them, but they said things like, “Prosexte pou pigainete!,” (Watch where you're going!) and “Opou pas se mia tetoia viasyni?” (What are you in a hurry for?)

On one of the rooftops, Widowmaker was tackled by someone who saw the whole thing. “Boreite dolofonos! Tha stamatisete!” (You murderer! I'll stop you!) the man kept saying as he tried to punch and strangle Widowmaker, but kept having the punches blocked by the rifle. 

Widomaker managed to knock the guy over and aimed her rifle at him. “Tu ferais mieux de ne pas avoir fait de moi la fin,” (You better not have made me late) Widowmaker said as she shot the man. She then shot her grappling hook to the top of a nearby cliff, where she parked her airship.

 

2.

Fareeha made her way to the convention center in the Samseong-Dong district of Seoul and bought a ticket to get inside. She thought to herself how ridiculous this mission was. There’s a video game about Overwatch’s exploits? And there’s a world championship for it? How disrespectful. 

The main floor was packed with people Fareeha could only guess were other Koreans. Or Japanese since that’s where the competition was from. She noticed the majority of people were wearing pink shirts with an angry rabbit head surrounded by a circle. That logo appeared on other colored shirts as well.

Fareeha recognized the event’s DJ and master of ceremonies, Luio Correia dos Santos. He stopped a building project the Vishkar Corporation was working on in Rio De Janerio because it was going to destroy some of the favelas. Now he uses technology he stole from Vishkar to help better the world when he isn’t living in his newfound fame. He would be a fine addition to the team, Fareeha thought, given his noble intentions and willingness to fight for what’s right.

“Alright you pessoas sensuais,” (sexy people) Lucio said as he put on a new track, “it’s time to introduce today’s competitors. First up, the challengers.”

The audience started to boo as Team Japan members walked across the stage while “Megitsune” by Babymetal played. 

“For Team Japan, we have Noa Kurosawa, Yuuko Ishikawa, Chinatsu Fukui, Riko Yamasaki, Chinatsu Nakajima, and Momoko Sato.”

Some spotlights shone on the stage, and the crowd started to cheer again. Lucio put on a different song, “Sugar Free,” by T-ARA, to introduce the next team.

“Alright you louco Koreans,” Lucio addressed the crowd. “Get ready for your defending Overwatch world champions, Team Korea!”

The Korean women walked across the stage in similar manner to the Japanese. Each name Lucio said was greeting with more and more cheering.

“We have Min-Ji Cho, Yeong-Ja Lee, Jeong-Hui Jo, Seo-Yeon Moon, and Gyeong-Suk Gim!”

After the five women walked off the stage, the hall went darker as the crowd started roaring more than they had. Lucio put on the Alan Parsons’ song “Sirius.” More spotlights shine on the stage as a silhouetted feminine figure appeared. 

“Now, time for the main event!” Lucio said in a grandiose voice. “She’s the 5-time world champion in Diablo and Starcraft. She’s been playing games since she was in the womb. The Busan Bombshell. Give it up for Hana Song! The girl you all know as D.va!” 

Hana walked out in her blue and pink jumpsuit and pink makeup lines on her face to thunderous applause. So that’s Hana Song, Fareeha thought to herself. She’s no more than a teenager. There were clearly some things about Korea that confused Fareeha.

“Nuga boseu ui ileohan gajja leul boyeo deulijyo!” (Let's show these pretenders who's boss) Hana said to more applause. 

Both teams sat at their row of computers, with Hana’s side wearing special pink headphones that resembled bunny ears. A screen was set up on the main stage to show what the players were up to.

“Alright, it’s time for the toss,” Lucio said as a virtual coin in the game was set to flip. “Which side will get to play as who?”

Fareeha still wondered to herself why she was chosen to convince these people to join an organization they were mocking by playing this game. 

The virtual coin flip indicated that Korea would play as Overwatch, while Japan would play as the Omnics. Who would win would be decided in a best 2 out of 3 format. The first map chosen was the Australian Outback. The Overwatch team needed to capture points in the Omnic base while the Omnics had to defend until time ran out. The Japanese team could choose from several Omnic varieties that included tanks, giants, standard ground units, repair units, and turret units. The Koreans could not only pick from standard Overwatch soldiers, but specific members, like Reinhardt, Torbjorn, Jack Morrison, Gabirel Reyes, Angela Zeigler and Ana.

I wonder what mother would think of this, Fareeha thought.

The clock counted down for the first round to start with the audience chanting along to 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, before cheering some more.

The first round ended quickly, with the Koreans constantly pushing the attack, thanks to Hana’s impressive Reinhardt skills. The first checkpoint went down in less than a minute, with the final point taken in about 3 minutes.

“Fukanoda yo,” (This is impossible) Kurosawa said as they waited for the next map to load. “Dare mo omnics to shite pure shitai to kangaete imassen.” (No one wants to play as the Omnics)

“Jal,” (Well) Hana said looking over her computer screen, “Eojjeomyeon dangsin geobjaeng-i eun da-eum joh-eun eod-eoyahanda.” (Maybe you pussies should just get good then)

The next map chosen was the Siberian wasteland. A king of the hill map. The teams remained on the same sides, but the map didn’t favor one side in particular. The first level on the map was of a Siberian village, with a church as the hill point. Again, the Koreans were more dominant, but the Japanese were putting up more of a fight, using tanks and giants more to their advantage. Still, the Koreans won the first round. The second map was of an Omnic base in the forest. This time, the Japanese managed to win, ending the Korean shutout.

“Bil-eo meog-eul!” (Goddamnit!) Hana shouted as they lost. She didn’t like losing very much.

The final map was of a frontier settlement in the Arctic Circle. Given how flat the land in this map was, anyone could take it. The Koreans used a special strategy this time. 3 Reinhardts, 1 Ana, 1 Torbjorn, and 1 Jack Morrison. Once they captured the point, it was essentially a fortress and the Japanese had no chance of getting through.

The crowd went wild as the final victory sign came up, resulting in a Korea win. 

“Give it for the once again champions, Korea!” Lucio said as he made his way down from this DJ area down to the main stage, where the Korean girls were waving at the crowd, blowing kisses at them, and hugging each other. A trophy was presented to the Koreans which they all took turns rising. As Hana and Lucio saw each other, they embraced and kissed.

Some time after the celebrations ended, Hana was busy with an autograph session, signing pictures and such books as “D.va’s Guide to Starcraft,” and “Jasig Haneunim: The D.va life story.” None of these books Hana actually wrote, but it was still nice to meet her fans in an intimate setting like this.

“Hey D.va,” one of the boys standing in line said when he reached her. “Would you mind signing this drawing I made of you?” 

“Sure,” Hana said as she started to write on it blindly. “Anything I can do for,” as she stopped to actually look at it. The drawing is of a short, plump version of her with a cat face holding a bag of Doritos and a bottle of Mountain Dew in her hands. 

The boy gave a smug look as he tried to reach for the piece of paper. Hana quickly ripped the drawing up and tossed the scraps behind her.

“You people think this is funny?” Hana started to shout at him. “Nae bil-eo meog-eul lain-eul bakk-eulo deligo dol-a oji anh-eul!” (Get the fuck out of my line and never come back!) 

The boy ran off, but before he was completely out of sight, Hana shouted at the line, “If anyone else has those stupid gremlin D.va pictures, get out of my line!”

About a quarter of the people left the line and moved on to other things. 

“Hey Hana,” Lucio said as he approached Hana with Fareeha, continuing to autograph. “This woman wants to speak with you.”

“Yeah?” Hana said after taking a look at Fareeha. “Make it quick one-eye, I have a lot of autographs to get through.”

Fareeha was confused at first. One-eye? She didn’t wear an eye patch like her mother. Then she remembered the Horus tattoo under her right eye. That made her dislike this child even more. But a mission’s a mission. 

“I still find it hard to believe this game exists,” Fareeha started off with. 

“It’s been out for years,” Hana responded, not looking back at Fareeha. “Besides, they make games out of anything these days. Even people who play video games have games made about them.”

“Where’s the one girl who played as my mother? I’d like to meet her.” 

Hana was startled by that statement and turned to look at Fareeha, “Your mother? You mean the sniper lady?”

“Ana. Ana is her name. And for your information, this eye tattoo I have honors her memory.”

Hana suddenly became nervous “Look, if you’re going to sue someone, don’t sue me. I didn’t make the game. I just play it for money.” 

“Relax, I’m not going to sue you. I’m here to recruit you.” 

“For what? Some other gaming team?” 

“No. For the real Overwatch.”

Hana fell out of her chair as she heard that. When she stood up and managed to compose herself, she addressed the crowd. 

“Alright everyone, the autograph session is over. Apologies to those I could get to. Hopefully, I’ll see you at my next event.”

Hana quickly pulled Lucio and Fareeha off to the side where they wouldn’t be bothered, even as people still tried to get Hana’s autograph. 

“What do you mean for Overwatch? I thought they weren’t around anymore.”

“We’ve restarted in secret. Not trying to let any governments get in our way.”

“Why would you want someone like me?”

“We know of your military experience, how you were one of the finest mech pilots Korea had ever seen, holding off several waves of Omnics in the battles here. We feel we could use someone with your determination.”

Hana’s messaging device goes off and she checks it. There was a message from the Korean military calling her to duty. Some giant Omnics have appeared off the coast of Incheon and were about to make landfall. Hana headed towards a door leading outside while Fareeha and Lucio followed her. 

“I’ll consider your offer, Egyptian lover,” Hana said as they were now outside. Hana’s pink mech was standing outside the convention center and people were taking pictures of it or trying to make funny faces. 

“And while, you’re at it,” Hana said, “I’ll be live streaming my fighting. Feel free to watch.”

People took pictures as Hana got inside the mech, activated the boosters, and flew towards Incheon. 

“You know,” Fareeha said turning to Lucio. “I hear you’re quite the freedom fighter yourself.” 

“Say no more,” Lucio responded.

Hana landed her mech at the military base in the Songdo-Dong district along the shoreline. Giant Omnics were on the path to destroy bridges connecting the mainland with the island holding Incheon airport. 

The military leaders went over the battle plans. Mostly long-range missiles from land and boats while aircraft and flying mechs provide air support. 

Hana, along with the other mech pilots, ran to get inside her mech once the briefing was over. She started up a livestream. 

“Annyeonghaseyo modu,” (Hello everyone) Hana started off with the camera aimed at there face. “D.va here reporting from inside my mech. Just got finished winning the Overwatch world championship again and now,” 

With the mech starting to fly over the sea, Hana changed the camera view to the front, showing the giant Omnics fighting off Korean warships.

“I’m going to fight off these megazord rejects. And don’t worry, I have no plans to die today.”

Hana thrusted down towards one of the warships and landed. She started blasting away at one of the Omnic’s legs, enough to cause to cause the giant machine to topple over into the sea.

“Yes!” Hana shouted. “I’m sure that’s at least 10,000 points.”

Hana boosted her way over to the next giant, with 5 aircraft raining missiles down on it. She landed on the Omnic’s right shoulder and started shooting at its head. The giant’s left arm tried swatting Hana away, but it moved too slowly as Hana just flew to the front of its head to continue firing. Combined with the continual rocket barrages, the Omnic fell down into the sea as well.

“There goes another one,” Hana said. “I wonder if the other mech pilots are keeping track of their scores.”

The last giant was ready to make landfall. As Hana made her way towards it, she saw another one of the mechs going into it’s back. It’s exploded a few seconds later; the pilot must of activated the self-destruct sequence. This sent the Omnic falling slowly towards the shore, not able to do any more harm.

“Whoa!” Hana shouted. “Did you all see that?”

“All units,” the voice of the commander came through the mech. “Omnics have been defeated. I repeat the Omnics have been defeated. You can all return to base now.”

“Alright, guess that wraps it up for today.” Hana said as he flew the mech towards the base. She aimed the streaming camera back at herself. “But, for now, can I get real with you for a moment? You see, after I won the Overwatch championship today, I received an offer. An offer to do pretty much what I’m doing now with the military, but with no national allegiance. I want to know what you guys think I should do. Don’t get me wrong, I am fine with helping the Korean military. But I don’t know if this is the best approach to solve the world’s problems. Believe me people, this is of international importance. So just send me a comment in the next 5 minutes if you think I should take up the offer or not.” 

As Hana got back to the base, everyone was cheering for the day’s successes. 

“Congratulations, Song,” the commander said to Hana. “You efforts were most impressive today.”

“Commander,” Hana responded, “I wish to tender my resignation from the Korean military.”

“What?” the commander gasped. “Song, you’re one of our best pilots! You haven’t finished your mandated service yet!”

“I received a better offer. One that could deal with the Omnics more effectively.” 

“Song, if you leave right now, I will personally come after you for desertion! The military will take your mech away!”

“Sidohago nal mag-eul” (Try and stop me) Hana replied as she got back into her mech and flew off. She made her way back to downtown Seoul, trying to find where Fareeha and Lucio went off to. 

 

3.

“Yesli na Otchiznu nagryanet beda, Pozovyot soldata turba, Armiya moya, ty na strazhe vsegda! Ty - moya lyubov' i sud'ba!”

Aleksandra was in charge of leading the military unit in song. As they were going to be stationed outside of Moscow, she felt it appropriate to engage in a traditional Russian military number.

“Obyknovennaya, sud'ba nelyogkaya voyennaya. Lyubov' surovaya, no vernaya. Gotovy my na ratnyj trud.,My vse ispytany ni raz, ni dva boyami-marshami.  
My ot soldata i do marshala - odna sem'ya!”

An Omnic base had been discovered a few miles Northeast of Moscow. Possibly the headquarters of their campaign. This time, the Russians were taking no chances and sent their best units to attack, Aleksandra’s among them. 

The combined might of 5,000 soldiers marched down to Protasovo, the rumored location of the base. After Aleksandra finished her renditions of various Russian military songs, one of the other troops started singing the “Moskau” disco song, as everyone eventually joined along.

“Moskau, Moskau, wirf die Glaser an die Wand, Russland is ein schones Land, Ho ho ho ho, hey!”

“Hold,” one of the commanding officers shouted as the force stopped in their tracks. “Omnics sighted up ahead. Get locked and loaded!” 

All the Russian troops made sure their weapons were loaded, with Aleksandra making sure her particle cannon was charged. The troops started to run down the road faster and faster and faster, letting out a yell as the town, and hopefully the base, would be in view.

But then they stopped on they actually saw the town. Sure enough, there was an Omnic base there. There was only one problem. None of the Omnics were moving. 

The lights on their heads indicated they were powered on, ready to do any sort of motion. But they just stood up straight. Not even in battle formation, but as if they were a punch of public art statues aimed at different points. 

The Russian troops did nothing but wander around looking at the harmless androids. Why weren’t they responding? Surly the Omnics knew they were being watched. Yet no responses. 

Aleksandra looked at the Omnics with the same confusion as the rest of the troops. Upon further inspection of one of the units, she noticed something off about it. Where the neck meets the head, there were some parts she couldn’t recall seeing on other Omnic units. Aleksandra decided to knock the unit down and hit it until it was noticeably turned off. The other soldiers rushed over to see what the deal was.

“Bring this one back to base,” Aleksandra said. “We need to examine it.”

The Omnic body was carried back to the Russian base in Shchyolkovo. One of the commandeered buildings was used as an operating room, the Omnic laid on a table with Aleksandra and some other troops looking over. 

“So what did you see on this thing, Zaryanova?” the doctor in the group asked.

“Here on the neck,” Aleksandra said as she touched the Omnic’s head, pointing out where she saw the extra parts. “We haven’t seen these on any enemy unit.”

The doctor saw what she meant and worked to extract the implants. 

“Do you know what these are, doctor?”

“Look like miniature receivers,” the doctor said. “Meant to receive digital frequencies.”

“Is something the Omnics use regularly?” one of the other troops there asked.

“No. The tech used to communicate with each other from far distances is usually stored in their head. These were put on the Omnics to talk to someone else. Or for someone to talk to them.”

“We need to examine all of them,” Aleksandra ordered. “All of the Omnics at that base and whatever is leftover from previous battles. We need to know how many Omnics these implants are in.”

“Are you going to be taking point on this?” one of the soldiers asked. 

“Not this time. There are some people I know who would be very interested in these developments.” 

 

4.

Hanamura. A prominent castle in the Setagaya district of Tokyo. This castle is home to the Shimada clan, one of the prominent Japanese crime families.

The current family head, Hanzo, sat alone in the main hall, doing his nightly meditations. While doing so, he prayed to the gods for the strength to continue his business endevors, something he hoped to give up one day. Hanzo also prayed for the return of his brother, Genji. He wasn’t sure what to do with him if he did come home, since Genji is a cyborg now. But Hanzo still prayed for some kind of understanding in what he became. 

The windows of the castle were open, which Hanzo preferred. The evening breezes soothed him while praying.

“Are you here to kill me too?” Hanzo said, breaking out of his meditative state and aimed his bow behind him at the shadowy figure in the rafters. 

“No,” Reaper said before fading in a puff of purple smoke before reappearing in front of Hanzo. “You’re of no use to us dead.”

“You, I know who you are,” Hanzo said still aiming his bow at Reaper. “You’re one of the Talon agents.”

“So, you can probably guess why I’m here then.”

“You’re going to kill me because the clan is in your way?”

“No, I’m here to propose an alliance.”

Hanzo lessened the grip on his bow, no longer aiming it at Reaper.

‘What would a terrorist group want with a crime family?”

“We have a particular interest in events happening in this part of the world. Talon thinks the Shimada clan can have a beneficial relationship.”

“We are involved with enough criminal activity here. I can’t risk any more working with a heinous group as Talon.”

“We’re both involved in unconventional businesses. I’m sure we can work something out.”

“The answer is no. I won’t dishonor my family even more than I have.”

“It’s not that, is it?”

Hanzo turned away from Reaper, looking at the family shrine and swords.

“My family has been involved in organized crime for hundreds of years. This castle was built with criminal money. I’ve been working to continue to do my family honor. But my brother, he abandoned us to find his own path. That led me to wonder if mine was the right path.”

Reaper, remembering what Widowmaker told him, takes off his mask, showing off his darkly tan face with a black goatee.

“I once had a friend I considered my brother,” Reaper said. “We fought in wars together that saved the world. But as time went on, we grew apart as to how the world needed to be saved. The boy scout couldn’t make the hard decisions. We went our separate ways, which led me to Talon. I don’t know how close you were to your brother, but your paths won’t come back together anytime soon. All I can promise is that Talon can promise all of Japan to the Shimadas. Maybe more if this relationship works out.”

Hanzo contemplated for a little bit, still in front of the family shrine and swords. At last, he said “Alright. For the good of the clan, I’ll join you.”

“Okay,” Reaper said putting his make back on. “First things first. You and whoever you command need to come with me to China.”

“China? What for?”

“There’s a summit we need to sabotage.”

 

5.

Along the Nepal-Tibet border, there lays a monastery built by Omnics. This is home to the order of Shambali monks. The spiritual leaders of the Omnics. Here was a place where Omnics of all kinds could come and try to find some greater meaning in life outside of their programming. 

The temple was full of monks meditating, praying, teaching, or talking about current events. In one room, Zenyatta is leading a meditation session with two of his pupils, Genji Shimada and a Bastion unit.

‘Zenyatta,” a monk named Reggatta said as he popped his head in the room, “you have visitors.” 

“Alright,” Zenyatta said as he broke his trance and urged Genji and Bastion to wake up. “Meditation’s over. Show the visitors in.”

Into the room walked Lena and Angela. Angela was happy to see these faces while Lena was busy starring at the celling.

“Angela,” Genji said upon seeing the doctor.

“Angela?” Zenyatta asked. “Is this the woman who saved your life?”

“Yes it is, master,” Genji said holding Angela’s hand as if to kiss it. “To what do we owe this pleasure?”

“Actually Genji and, Zenyatta, is it?” Angela asked the Omnic.

“Yes, that is my name.”

“We’re here on Overwatch business.”

Though Genji’s green visor blocked his eyes, he shot Zenyatta a look of discontentment. 

“I thought Overwatch disbanded,” Genji said.

“We recently reformed under new management. Is there somewhere we could discuss this?”

“Yes, I can show you around,” Zenyatta said noticing Lena still not paying attention to what they were talking about. “Because this one over here wants to see more, right?”

“Oh you better believe I do!” Lena eagerly said.

As the four of them were making their way around the monastery, the Bastion unit started walking along with them. Angela was confused at the sight.

“If you don’t mind me asking Zenyatta,” Angela asked her Omnic host. “Why is there a Bastion unit here and why is he following us?”

“There’s no need to worry about him,” Zenyatta said. “Bastion came to us out of need. He told us how he was left to rust in a forest when the first Omnic crisis ended. He then felt the need to be enlightened and feel one with nature when reactivated. That quest lead him here.”

“Beep bop bop, booooooom,” Bastion beeped out.

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Zenyatta replied.

The five of them made their way to the central gathering space. At the center was a statue of a six-armed Omnic monk hovering in front a circle decorated with various Nepalese, Indian, and Tibetan artwork. 

“This is our main prayer space,” Zenyatta lectured as Lena ran ahead into the area, making careful mind not to barge into the monks. “It is here we look back on our days events and find strength in ourselves through the Iris.”

Lena sat down next to one of the monks, crossed her legs, and held her hands up the same way some of the other monks were doing, starting to pray.

“Zenyatta, I apologize for Lena’s behavior,” Angela said. “She’s just been so excited since I told her she was coming here.”

“Nothing to worry about,” Zenyatta responded. “Everyone is welcome to find inner peace their own way.” 

When Lena was finished praying, she stood back up and returned to the group.

“My child,” Zenyatta asked. “What did you pray for?”

“Forgiveness,” Lena responded.

“What needs to be forgiven?”

Lena’s eyes started to tear up as she continued. “I was there at King’s Row when Mondatta was killed. I tried to stop the assassin, but her last bullet was going to go through my chest if I didn’t get away. I didn’t know she was aiming right at Mondatta. It was all my fault!”

“My child,” Zenyatta said to comfort Lena. “You weren’t the one who wanted Mondatta dead. You did all you could to stop it.”

“But it wasn’t enough. Now people are attacking Omnics indiscriminately, Omnics are fighting back, we’re getting further away from peace every day.”

“If you say you’re from Overwatch, isn’t that your job? To make peace in this world?’

Lena managed to calm herself down as Angela brought herself back into the picture. “That leads into what we’re here for. We want you and Genji to join us.”

Bastion gave off a questioning, “oomp, wee woo?” as Zenyatta went into deep thought.

“I want nothing to do with Overwatch,” Genji responded. “I’m grateful that you’ve given me life again, Dr. Ziegler, but I ignored Winston’s message for a reason. My live is no longer one of violence. It’s of working to maintain inner peace. Of knowing what it truly is to be both man and machine. I don’t know if I can possibly go back to,”

“We’ll accept,” Zenyatta responded, cutting Genji off.

“What? You can’t be serious master.”

“As the child named Lena pointed out, this world does need more healing between Omnics and humans. We can’t do much good isloated up here, sitting idle as wars attack our Omnic brethren. Plus, I believe it was Mondatta who said, “We are all one in the Iris.”

“Plus Genji,” Lena brought up. “I bet I’m as much of a machine as you are,” pointing out her chronal accelerator, ”and I think I handle the rigorous activity fine.”

“Alright, master,” Genji said after a brief contemplation. “If it means that much to you, I’ll travel along.”

“Excellent. Now I have one request. May Bastion travel with us as well? Can’t be too protective nowadays, can we?”

“Wooop Woop?” Bastion beeped.

 

6.

Back on Gibraltar, Ana and Reinhardt were in the team gym, with Reinhardt spotting Ana as she was bench-pressing 90 kg of weight.

“Come on Ana,” Reinhardt shouted. “You only have three more!”

“Relax Reinhardt,” Ana said as she pushed the weights up and down. “Getting older didn’t do the same miracles to my body you experienced.”

“2, 1!” Reinhardt shouted some more. “Okay Ana, take a water break now.”

“I may want to find a new trainer with how strict you’re being.”

“Breaking News!” one of the TV’s in the room blasted. “Reports are coming in from Ilios, Greece that Jason Xanthopoulos has been killed. The Omnic rights activist was found dead in his apartment with a single gunshot wound. Xanthopoulos was due to speak at the Lijang summit encouraging the world’s governments to take more action in protecting Omnic lives. Onlookers say a woman with blue skin was running across rooftops away from the scene of the crime.”

Ana watched the news report in stunned silence, knowing exactly what the situation was.

“Ana,” Reinhardt aksed. “What’s the matter? Did you know that Jason fellow?”

“It was Ameile,” Ana said softly.

“Ameile? Ameile who?”

“The Ameile that was married to Gerard! The Ameile that did this to my eye!”

“Ameile Lacroix? But she never had blue skin.”

“I know what I saw, Reinhardt. The day I lost my eye. In the heat of battle, I saw Ameile aim her rifle at me, and I aimed mine at her. But I couldn’t pull the trigger. She obviously didn’t feel the same.”

“Is that why you faked your death? Because you couldn’t kill one person?”

“She wasn’t just a person, Reinhardt. She was someone we all loved. Someone Gerard loved very deeply. I don’t know what Talon did to her, but there must be a way she can be brought back.”

“Ana,” Reinhardt said as he hugged her, “Sweet Ana. I don’t know if we’ll ever see the likes of her again.”  
Winston hurried into the room excitedly, breaking the tension of the moment.

“Reinhardt, Ana! Oh, . . am I interrupting something?”

“Winston,” Ana responded. “What is it?”

“The new recruits have arrived. They’re out on the airship hanger now.”

 

7.

It was a quiet night in the Dorado town square. Some of the kids were kicking around their footballs. Alejandra and her friends, meanwhile, were playing as heroes in the streets. Running along pretending to shoot guns at each other, they thought they were the heroes of old. It was something they could all get into once Alejandra told all of them about the time she ran into an old man who saved her life from hoodlums. It was the kind of stimulation they needed.

While running along playing their games, the group passed by the adult store, simply known as the “Tienda Para Adultos.” Some trucks were pulling into the alleyway beside it. When Alejandra looked down there, suspicious looking men were loading boxes in through a back door. One of the men said, “Oye chica, sal de aqui!” (Hey girl, get out of here!)

Alejandra did look through the windows of the store out of curiosity, even though her mother told her explicitly not to. She was well aware of what was sold. These boxes didn’t look right.

“No me oye?” (Did you not hear me?) the man said to her before pulling out a gun. “Sal de aqui!” (Get out of here!)

Alejandra and her friends ran while the man pursued them. Down stairs, alleyways, the occasional balcony, all across town.

In one alleyway, the kids eventually lost the man with the gun, who just headed back to the adult store. In this alleyway, hiding next to some boxes, the kids found Soldier 76 hiding out.

“I remember you,” Soldier 76 said. “Are these your friends?”

“I knew you’d come back,” Alejandra said. “I told all my friends about you.”

“Now, you kids should probably go home now. I need to take care of those gangsters in that store.”

“What for?”

“They have connections to some bad people. People who made me very angry in the past. Now I know where their hideout is.”

“Well we want to see you fight then, isn’t that right?” The friends all said they wanted to see him fight.

“Just promise me you’ll stay far away when it happens,” Soldier 76 said as he started to lead the kids back to the store.

“By the way,” Alejandra asked. “What’s your name?”

“My name? “Soldier 76 replied, flabbergasted. No one had asked for his name or even who he was since he took the identity of Soldier 76. “You can call me Jack.”

When the group was back in front of the adult store, Soldier 76 urged the kids to hide in one of the alleyways. “It’s going to get pretty violent shortly.”

Before Alejandra could ask him something more, Soldier 76 charged at the store and jumped through the window, knocking over some scantily clad mannequins. Some of the gangsters started to pull out their guns, but Soldier 76 proved too fast for these goons too, shooting out enough successive rounds to knock them all to the floor. One of the goons tried rushing at Soldier 76 with a knife, but the good Soldier proved to be more than a match for him, as he tossed the thug across the room, knocking over some tables and flimsy shelves. 

As Soldier 76 made his way to the back of the store, he felt his foot step on a DVD. One that particularly caught his eye. It was of a porno film titled “Bendover Watching.” With such clever character names as Linga Cockston, Jack Morningafter, Ana Anali, and Torbihon. In disgust, Soldier 76 crushes the DVD with his foot. 

One of the men shot lying in the back was still conscious went Soldier 76 reached him. “You’re going to open the secret door for me, or I’ll kill you before I blow this place up!”

“Alright man, alright,” the near-death man said and he reached his hand towards a keypad in the shelf, pressed the combination, and the shelf slid to reveal a passageway.

“Thank you,” Soldier 76 said before putting a bullet in the guy’s head.

As Soldier 76 made his way down the hallways, he saw plenty of illegal substances and firearms in various processes of shipping out. Is this what Reyes is up to? Soldier 76 thought. Money to keep Talon alive?

Any gangster that showed up in Soldier 76’s path, he shot with precision. Not to avoid death, but to show as little blood as possible when the bodies hit the floor. After going down at least 3 floors underground, Soldier 76 reached the main processing center, where the guns and drugs ended the preparation process and were ready to ship out. The gangsters, like the many before them, fell like flies when Soldier 76 dodged their fire, and returned fire back at them deadly accuracy.

With all the gangsters now lying on the floor dying, Soldier 76 shouted, “If any of you have information about the whereabouts of Gabriel Reyes and Sombra, I’ll let you live a little while longer!”

“I . . . know something,” one of the dying men said, with Soldier 76 giving him his full attention.

“Where are they? How can I find them?”

“All I know, . . . they’re going to be in Lijang. . . . Something about a summit.”

“It’s sounds just like Gabriel,” Soldier 76 said. “Wanting to ruin something good.”

Soldier 76 walked back the way he came through the hallways and the adult store to find Alejandra waiting for him. She was the only kid who still waited for him after all this time. 

“How many people did you kill in there?” Alejandra asked disappointedly.

“Where are your friends?” Soldier 76 responded. 

“They left after hearing all the gunshots. How many did you kill?”

“I wasn’t keeping track. They’re better off to society now.”

“This isn’t what a hero is supposed to do. They’re supposed to avoid taking unnecessary lives.”

“Well, I’m no hero kid. Not anymore. I have all the info I need, so I guess I won’t be seeing this town again.”

Soldier 76 started to walk away from Alejandra down the bricklined streets while all Alejandra could do was look on with a dejected feeling in her heart.

“I know there’s still a hero in you somewhere Jack,” Alejandra shouted at Soldier 76, hoping it would reach his ears. She had no idea if he heard her or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack:
> 
> Ballade de Melody Nelson - Serge Gainsbourg
> 
> Megaitsune - Babymetal
> 
> Sugar Free - T-ARA
> 
> Sirius - Alan Parsons Project
> 
> My Army - Traditional Russian Military Song
> 
> Moskau - Dschinghis Khan
> 
> When the World is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around - The Police


	4. The Dead Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Junkrat and Roadhog get an offer. The new recruits are briefed. A massive encounter at Lijang Tower.

1.

The Talon airship landed in the former remains of Alice Springs, Australia. A town destroyed when the Omnics invaded Australia, this was where the remains of the Australian Liberation Front set up after they destroyed the Australian Omnium and bathed the wasteland in radiation.

Satya started out the window as the vast expanse of desert. She had heard horror stories about how the people lived out here. Building houses out of junk. Babies deformed from the radiation. How any Omnics found in the area were shot on sight. How can humans live in such gruesome ways? Are they even human anymore?

“Hey,” Sombra brought Satya out of her trance. “Focus. This should be easy.”

“Dealing with maniacs is easy?” Satya asked.

“All you do is promise the junkers something they don’t have, and you’ll be all set.”

“What if they don’t want anything?”

“These guys have committed robberies around the world. It’s quite obvious they need some things.”

Sombra and Satya left the airship to head over to the building assembled out of sheet metal. A man with a peg leg, robot hand, and hair that appeared to be on fire was waiting for them.

“Are you the two sheilas I was promised today?” the man asked.

“Yes Mr. Fawkes,” Sombra responed. “This is Symmetra, she’ll be,”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” the man responded. “Just get inside so the radiation doesn’t get to you.

Inside, the building had just once room, with a dugout stairway to the underground. Every article of furniture and home decoration was noticeably scavenged. The sound of Midnight Oil’s Diesel and Dust album played from the dirty speakers. An overweight man wearing a gasmask was sitting on a coach.

“Mako, we got company,” the man said as he led Satya and Sombra inside. Mako just gave out a heavy sigh and moved over to a disheveled reclining chair.

“This is our little bit of paradise, just for Jamie Fawkes and Mako Rutledge,” Jamie said proudly.

“What’s underground?” Sombra asked.

“Oh, nothing. Nothing you can’t have.” 

“I don’t understand,” Satya said.

“What’s not to understand? Us junkers like to have secrets just like any other human.”

“No, I mean the music.”

“It’s about freedom, fighting for your territory, your heritage.”

“But if the white men are taking everything, should you give it back to who it belonged to originally?”

Mako gave off some deep chuckles.

“Anyway, onto the point,” Jamie got back on track. “I’ve been thinking about the terms you sent us. Working for Talon seemed like a pretty big step up for us. But, really, what can you offer us that we can’t take ourselves?”

“We being very generous here,” Sombra said.

“Well I don’t buy it. You say you can help us get rid of all the Omnics in a big ol’ revenge scheme, but we did pretty well for ourselves getting rid of the ones here in Australia.”

“You turned the country into Fury Road.”

“If we can do that on our own here, what’s stopping us from trying it around the world?”

“Because,” Satya stepped in, “no one else in the world has adapted to life in irradiated landscapes like you have. They’ll mostly die”

“Oh yeah, Ms. Bollywood? Why should those Omnic-loving freaks be of any concern to me?”

“If you want to be prepared for any other conflicts, you need the right equipment. And I can provide that.”

On her left robotic hand, Satya shown a light that started out as one line, then it separated into two, four, eight, and so on, forming a three-dimensional object. It was the shape of a stool with a silver base, and a padded seat. When it was fully formed, Satya placed it on the ground and sat on it.

“How did you do that?” Jamie said in shock. “How is that possible?”

“Hard light technology. The Vishkar Corporation uses it to make whole cities with one person’s imagination.” Satya made some miniature houses and cars next with the light and set them down on a table. “Just think of what can rise out of this wasteland with this on your side. A better home for all the lost souls.”

Mako got up out of his chair, deciding he has seen enough. “Jamie, let’s do it.”

“Roadie, let’s think about this. They want all the junkers to come along with them. We have to consider them.”

“I’ve already done that. This will be perfect for them. We’re in, guys.”

Jamie, caught in this tight spot, finally caved. “Alright you walking mound of grease fat, I’m in it too.”

 

2.

Winston made his way down to the main computer room where the new recruits would be gathered. This would be their first briefing since becoming newly annointed Overwatch agents. Except Genji, but that for a brief time. They had all been formerly introduced to the other team members, shown their living spaces and allowed to have a night’s sleep. Hana and Lucio told Winston how cool a talking gorilla was. Aleksandra said Russia has gotten many different animals to talk. 

In the computer room, the 6 new members were waiting, making small talk. Aleksandra was notably quiet in the presence of Omnic beings.

“For those of you who don’t remember,” Winston said as he made his way in front of the group,” I’m Winston, the current leader of Overwatch. And I’ve recruited you all because I think each of you provides the valuable skills needed to bring a formal peace to this world. If any of you have any questions before I get into major details about our plan, now would be the time to speak up.

Aleksandra raises her hand to speak, “Winston, if we’re working to put an end to the Omnic threat, why do we have two here with us?”

“Zenyatta wanted to be here to help bridge the gap between humans and Omnics out in the world. And Bastion is here as his protection.”

Aleksandra still gave Zenyatta and Bastion a glaring look.

“Now, as you’ve been told, Overwatch was once the United Nations’ main task force in fighting threats to global stability. However, due to conflicts of interest involving former members Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes, Overwatch was disbanded. Now we’re operating on our own with no government oversight whatsoever. Our main objective here is to fight the forces of Talon. I’m lead to believe not only do they have their regular schemes of wanton mayhem and destruction around the world. But they are also controlling the Omnics involved with attacks around the world.

“Like the ones in Russia?” Aleksandra pointed out.

“Yes, like the ones you told us about.”

“Do we know if Talon has any other allies we should be concerned about?” Lucio asked. 

“As far as I can tell,” Winston said. “Talon agents have met with the remains of the Australian Liberation Front and the Vishkar Corporation.”

“Vishkar,” Lucio said to Hana, “I thought destroying cities on their own was bad enough.”

“I know you have proper fight training, one way or another. But you won’t be heading out on our next planned mission in China.”

The 6 shouted various things at Winston like “Why not?” and “We perfectly capable fighters.”

“You need to remain here as backup units should anything happen to team members at there. In the meantime, Torbjorn will watch over you back here.”

“Are you saying we need a babysitter?” Hana asked loudly.

“You need someone to show you all the ropes and Torbjorn is perfectly fine with the task. Meeting adjourned.” 

Everyone went back to their living quarters. Zenyatta and Bastion requested separate arrangements. Ones that allowed them to maintain a low level of maintenance. They settled on a former laboratory now used as storage space. It was perfect for the two Omnics. All that was needed were some cots to sleep on. 

“Booop boom,” Bastion beeped.

“Just ask Torbjorn about it,” Zenyatta replied. “I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“Oooooop,” Bastion beeped again.

“You need to work in building trust with the other team members.”

“So,” the voice of Aleksandra said as she walked inside. “They have you with the rest of the garbage.”

“We requested this space so make the humans more comfortable with there own,” Zenyatta replied.

“I’m not here for you. I’m here for him,” Aleksandra pointed at Bastion.

“Ooom?” Bastion beeped.

“I know right now, we’re part of the same team,” Aleksandra said approaching the metal figure, “but my village back in Siberia was destroyed by likes of you.” 

“Doooooomph,” Bastion beeped.

“My men back in Russia are still fighting your kind even as I choose to be here. When this is all over, after these terrorists are found and dealt with, don’t think I won’t come after you too.” 

“Aleksandra, we’re team members.” Zenyatta said as he tried to drive the two apart. “We’re working towards the same end. You can’t threaten Bastion like that.” 

“I’m only letting you live now for the same reason, you false monk.” Aleksandra said as she left the room. “I’ll be coming after you and your friends too.”

“Woooop opmh oooof,” Bastion beeped

“I know Bastion,” Zenyatta replied. “Aleksandra must have had a hard live in order to think such thoughts.”

Later, Bastion and Zenyatta went down to Torbjorn’s workshop. The Swedish dwarf was hard at work multitasking. He was preparing a new suit of armor for Reinhardt, trying to understand how Hana’s mech and Lucio’s sonic gun worked, and outfitting Fareeha’s Raptora suit with more effective rockets. Swedish power metal blasted while he was working.

“Torbjorn!” Zenyatta said to try and get the dwarf’s attention.

Torbjorn noticed the two Omnics and turned the music down so they could actually hear each other. “What do you two want?”

“Bastion was wondering if you could make some repairs.”

Wooomp wop,” Bastion beeped.

“Can’t you Bastion units repair yourselves?”

“Well, that’s the part that needs repairing.”

“Okay, okay. Come over here.” 

Bastion sat down on a table and stuck out his repair arm.

“What’s the problem with it?” Torbjorn asks.

“Bastion says it’s not doing its function properly,” Zenyatta spoke on his behalf.

“Woooooooom,” Bastion beeped.

“Oh, this is simple,” Torbjorn said confidently. “Nothing a little elbow grease can’t fix.”

Torbjorn proceeded to spray the repair arm with WD-40, replaced some wires, and made sure the tip at the end was sharp.

“Okay,” Torbjorn commanded when he was finished. “Try it out.”

Bastion proceeded to repair a part of his gun arm that was giving him problems, signaling Torbjorn’s success.

“Ahha, there you go,” Torbjorn said with delight. “You’ll be unstoppable on the battlefield once more.”

“Bweoooo oooop,” Bastion beeped.

“I’m sorry,” Zenyatta said. “He doesn’t like it when you mention battlefields or anything having to do with war.”

“Oh I see. You’re one of those reformed hippie Omnics aren’t you?”

Bwumph?” Bastion beeped. 

“Anyway, thank you for the repairs Torbjorn,” Zenyatta said trying to prevent any more misunderstandings between the two. They left the workshop as Torbjorn turned the music backup and worked on his other projects.

“Hey dwarf!” Torbjorn heard the shouting over the music. Once again, to his annoyance, he turned the music down to see who was calling him. None other than the pink-haired Aleksandra.

“Aleksandra, what brings you down here?” Torbjorn asked. “Anything need repairing?”

“No not right now,” Aleksandra said cutting to the chase. “What were you doing with those two Omnics?”

“Bastion needed repairs. That is my job here after all. To fix things.”

“Repairing those weapons of death?”

“Hey now, at least they’re on our side.” Torbjorn said defending himself before slippling down in tone when he said, “For the time being.”

“Ah, so you don’t trust them either, da?”

“It’s very hard to trust something you spent your life working on only to have it turn against you.”

“Oh really?”

“Many of the designs for weapons I came up with more than 30 years ago were hijacked when the Omnics rose up. I designed some of those Omnics too. You know what it’s seeing what are practically your children killing innocent humans?”

“I know something like that, dwarf. Before I was born, Omnics destroyed my village in Siberia. My family survived, staying there even after I was born. I’d hear the stories all the time from my parents, and I wanted to make sure they would never go through something as damaging as that.”

Torbjorn went to reach for one of the cabinets to get something. He pulled out a bottle of Svedka vodka.

“Are we allowed to have that here?” Aleksandra asked.

“Child,” Torbjorn rebutted. “You should’ve seen the parties we had here the first time around. Besides, what the monkey don’t know won’t hurt him.”

Torbjorn also pulled out some shot glasses for the two of them and filled them up. They clinked and chugged the shots down, neither showing discomfort.

“So I just have to ask,” Aleksandra started to say, “since this is probably your field of expertise. How does an Omnic, a being who for so long was driven to destroy man, turn into a monk and a pushover?”

“You could ask the same of humans,” Torbjorn responded. 

“Do you not know then?”

“I’m still not entirely sure how the Omnics rose up to begin with. How would I know what caused them to have their revelations?”

“If you ask me, they’ve done nothing but bring more unneeded conflict into the world.”

“No, you’re wrong there. They were perfectly fine as unthinking menial labor as they were programmed to be.”

“Oh please, dwarf. History always tells stories about how the oppressed rise up and start revolutions. Need I remind you of Soviet Russia?”

“That’s the one thing that escaped me. All those years ago.”

“Hey,” Aleksandra said filling up the shot glasses again and handing one to Torbjorn. “Maybe this time around, we’ll get it right.”

Torbjorn decides to lead in a toast, starting to feel the first shot coursing through is veins. 

“Ma vi leva for se Omnics besegrade!” (May we live to see the Omnic defeated) he shouted.

“Pobedil voveki!” (Defeated forever!) Aleksandra responded with the same enthusiasm. They clink glasses again and chug.

 

3.

For the past few weeks, every question hurled at Taonga Arendse was the same. Any updates on Overwatch? Has Overwatch been sighted? Any responses to Talon attacks? He wondered how long it would take people to focus on what the U.N. is doing now instead of what it used to be.

First meeting of the day: Meet with the Chinese envoy. The Lijang conference was going to happen in a few days and they wanted all assurances the event will be policed. 

“Gentlemen,” Arendse said to soothe the group. “U.N. police will be on patrol and guarding Lijang tower. Hundreds of personnel will be on hand.”

“What if Talon or Overwatch show up?” the head of the envoy asked.

“Security is primed to deal with a situation such as that. Thank you very much,” Arendse said before leaving. Well, that could’ve gone worse.

Next meeting: A member of the Korean delegation named Dae-Jung Cho asked to meet with Arendse personally. Something about stolen military equipment.

“Mr. Cho,” Arendse greeted the man. “What can I do for you?”

“Mr. Secretary,” Cho stated. “I’ve gotten word from a Korean military commander that right after a group of giant Omnics were defeated off the coast on Incheon, one of the fighter mechs was stolen.”

“Stolen? By who?”

“Hana Song. One of our finest pilots.”

“Isn’t that a matter Korea can handle on it’s own?”

“We looked at the livestream Ms. Song was doing during the battle for any information. All we know is that she got an offer from an organization with no national allegiance. Plus, the mech’s tracer implant has its location in Gibraltar.”

Arendse’s heart sank. The former Overwatch base. Or is it former no more with all that has been happening?

“Alright, Mr. Cho. I’ll have my people look into it,” Arendse said as he made his way to the exit.

“You had better recover that mech,” Cho shouted. “Or the wrong people are going to swarm over us all like the Omnics did!”

Next meeting: With Denisa Dumitrescu, Shahnaz Amirmoez and all matter of assistants. They were busy going over the Overwatch files, trying to find any clues as to where they might be based now and who is part of it.

“Amirmoez,” Arendse asked. “Which former bases have you gone over yet?”

“We’ve gotten little data about the former bases,” Amirmoez went on. “Antarctica is deserted. Grand Mesa is still recovering from the Soldier 76 robbery, and the Swiss headquarters is still destroyed.”

“What about Gibraltar?”

“We’re working on that one now. And right now, we have nothing.”

“Someone from the Korean delegation said one of their mechs was spotted there. It’s pilot was Hana Song.”

“The video gamer?”

“Yes. She may have gotten in contact with Overwatch. Report back to me soon!”

“Yes sir. I’ll let you know if we find something.”

4.

Lucio was sitting on his bed, working on songs for his next album. Since the main Overwatch team left Gibraltar for China, the base was pretty empty. Not for lack of things to do, but he just didn’t know what exactly what to do sometimes. Plus, there are only so many times he can best Torbjorn and Aleksandra at hockey.

“Hey babe.” Hana said standing in the doorway, wearing an old t-shirt and pajama shorts. “What are you working on?”

“Just some new songs, coisa doc,” (sweet thing) Lucio said back. Hana made her way over to the bed and laid down beside her boyfriend.

“Lucio, can we do the my streaming now?” Hana asked pulling out her recording device.

“What? No, I can’t Hana. I’m not prepared!”

“Come on. Our fans need to know what’s going with their favorite power couple. Just play some of your new music.”

“Okay Hana, you can do your thing.”

Hana positioned herself so that her and Lucio could be in the shot while laying her back against Lucio’s chest. She hit the “live” button.

“Annyeong modudeul! (Hi everyone!) D.va here with my favorite man, Lucio. Say hi to everyone, babe.”

“Ola, ola.”

“He’s been working on some new music. Could you tell us about that?”

Lucio started playing the song. “This new song is more mellow, kind of like looking at the sunsets and ocean waves from here. Not right here, since we’re inside, but you get what I mean.”

“Yeah people, we’re here at the super secret base I’ve been told I can’t share the name of, but I’m sure I can show you some stuff in here. This is the boys sleep. On cots in the middle of the room. It’s pretty much the same as the girl’s room I showed you already. Up there are some monitors. Same in the girls’ quarters too, but I don’t pay attention to that. Bathrooms are over there with more down the hall. Again the same as the girls.”

“Action, action! If we want to make it like a true survivor!”

The song blasted from Lucio’s computer, completely catching Hana off-guard.

“Lucio! What is that weirdness?”

“I was hanging out with Reinhardt before the team left and he told me to listen to David Hasselhoff. He said it would improve my musical tastes. This was the first song I found.”

“Out of time, running in and out of time. Hear the ticking of the countdown clocks tonight!” 

“Oh my god Lucio. This song is hilarious!”

“The video’s better. It looks like it was made a hundred years ago.”

“What’s going on in here? Hana! What did we tell you about recording?”

“Oh no, it’s the drawf-man. Run Lucio!”

Hana and Lucio ran out of the room and down some hallways. Torbjorn’s short legs never had a chance at catching up to them, giving up as soon as they turned down a second hallway.

“You kids!” Torbjorn yelled when he finally gave up. “When everyone else comes back from the mission, they’ll knock some sense into you!”

Hana and Lucio finally stopped running when they reached the women’s quarters, and had themselves a good laugh about the whole thing.

“Oh guys,” Hana said to her livestream. “Lucio and I are in the girl’s room, and there’s no one else around to bother us. Are you thinking what I’m thinking, babe?”

“Hana, the dwarf is probably catching his breath before running after us again. What if somebody walks in?”

“But the chase got my so exhilarated. I feel I can take on anything. That includes you.”

Lucio didn’t respond, but gave a smirk to Hana and the recorder.

“Alright everyone, that does it for today’s stream. I think you can imagine what Lucio and I are up to next. Next time I’ll show you the Omnics we get to work with. See you all soon. Laters.”

Hana turned off the recording device and started kissing Lucio.

5.

The Talon airship was making it’s way over to Lijang. The atmosphere inside was of intense concentration from the assembled. Twenty Talon troops in black outfits and fifteen Shimada men in suits with black sunglasses and skinny ties. Reaper was up in the cockpit watching the pilots. Sombra was sitting behind the ship’s main computer, ready to hack anything when needed. Widowmaker and Hanzo stood near the door, preparing to lead the men into battle. Amidst this group, Jamie, Mako and Satya sat strapped to their seats, having trouble managing with the turbulence.

Jamie tried to make conversation with the Talon man sitting next to him.

“So, how long have you been doing this?”

The agent gave no response.

“Me? How lovely of you to ask. I’ve been in the junking business for years, ever since me and Mako here destroyed the Omnium in the outback.”

Still no response.

“We’ve done plenty of jobs around the world, stealing artifacts that belong to humanity, not those blasted Omnics. You know what really gets me about them?”

Mako dragged Jamie’s head away from the man, an urge to him to stop talking. No one else was talking. Why should he?

“So, Satya?” Jamie asked looking over Mako’s fat tattooed belly. “How many of these jobs do we have to do before we get your tech?”

“I don’t know,” Satya responded. “Enough to free us both I suppose.”

“You’re not pumped up for this mission? We get to show the world that Omnics need to be put in their rightful place.”

Satya tried reaching over Mako to grab Jamie out of disgust, but Mako was too big and her restraints were on too tight.

“Listen here Fawkes. I may not know everything that happened in Australia to make you this way, but we’re on a mission. We need to act professional.” Satya whispered the last part. “Hopefully it will get us out of here faster.”

“Why faster. It’s been a smooth time so far for me and Mako here. I’m sure the other junkers will be pleased once they’re part of the team.”

Oh great, Satya thought. More blabbermouth ruffians.

“Alright everyone,” Reaper said making his way down from the cockpit. “We’re reaching the first drop-off point. Widowmaker, get ready.”

The airship landed on a rooftop of considerable distance away from Lijang Tower. The door opened and Widowmaker hopped out, making her way across the rooftops to her final destination. The airship went back up in the air to move closer to the tower.

“You all know the plan, everyone,” Reaper commanded. “Sombra here will take down any security she can. Hanzo, Symmetra, and the Yakuza will be our people on the inside, ready to strike first. The Talon men will wait outside until the signal is given. Junkrat. Roadhog. You’re on standby.”

“What?” Jamie questioned loudly. “We don’t get to be part of the main event?”

“You’ll be called in if you’re needed,” Reaper said before making his way back up to the cockpit. 

“Oh, Roadie,” Jamie started to go off. “That man with the skull mask can’t keep us down. We oughta just go in there ourselves and,”

“Jamie,” Mako interrupted. “That’s not in the plan. We should follow the plan.”

“But we’ve done plenty of worse stunts on our own not having any stupid man dressed like death telling us what to do.”

“We’re not the leaders now. We should do what he says.”

Jamie stopped talking as he just pouted in his seat. “Mako,” Jamie said. “You’re no fun when you’re all serious.”

6.

The Overwatch members arrived at Lijang Tower and split up. Lena, Jesse, Mei, and Fareeha left the airship dressed up. Mei and Fareeha in black dresses and Jesse in a white tuxedo. Lena wore a short orange dress and her goggles, but kept wearing her brown jacket over it to hide the chronal accelerator. All of them carried weapons in handbags, with Fareeha’s raptora suit on call. Angela, Reinhardt, and Winston stayed behind at the ship, only due to make their presence known if things go south. Ana was already dropped off on the rooftops above them to provide sniper support. 

Inside Lijang tower, the summits’ main meetings had ended for the day and a reception was going on. Everyone was dressed up, eating plates of fine hors d’oeuvres and getting plenty of drinks. Getting inside wasn’t hard, since Mei was scheduled to speak and the three others were her guests. 

“Mom, can you hear us?” Fareeha said into her earpiece.

“Yes Fareeha, you’re coming in loud and clear,” Ana responded, looking through her rifle’s scope at the group on a rooftop. “Enjoy yourself tonight. Reinhardt, you guys are keeping tabs on us, right?”

“Yes Ana,” Reinhardt responded from the ship, which was parked in a very wide alley. “We’re watching over you. Just make sure you don’t get yourself hurt up there.”

“Oh, you worrisome old oaf. No one can spot me from up here.”

The four agents moved about and mingled with whomever, with Mei getting the most attention.

“Dr. Zhou,” a former associate named Zan Man approached Mei. “It’s so wonderful to see you again.”

“You too, Dr. Man,” Mei said as they gave each other high-society kisses on the cheek. “Did you ever manage to perfect the process of rapidly growing plants?”

“No, it was a foolish endeavor. Some men just weren’t meant to mess with nature that way. Unlike yourself of course. How long were you trapped in Antarctica for?”

“Ten years.”

“And you really haven’t aged a day in that time.”

“Well, that’s what happens when your body is frozen.”

Meanwhile, Lena, Jesse, and Fareeha were making their way through the plates of hors d’oeuvres. Mainly of local Chinese delicacies.

“What is this?” McCree asked one of the chefs with dissatisfaction, holding a half-eaten drumstick in his hand. “This is not a proper chicken wing.”

“No sir,” the chef replied. “It’s duck.”

“And where’s the buffalo sauce? You can’t have a good wing without hot buffalo sauce.”

“The sauce is made from sesame seeds and chile peppers, with a hint of ginger.”

“I ain’t one for your fancy sauce concoctions. Just get me some good ol’ fashioned buffalo sauce and I’ll be on my way.”

“But we don’t have any sir.”

“Alright then, you just lost yourself a patron. I’m going to the egg roll table where I’m sure the chefs make food properly.”

“You not the one paying us, mister.”

Fareeha and Lena didn’t have the same kind of outbursts over food Jesse did, but plenty of men did try to walk over into their space to flirt with them.

“Hey lady,” a Chinese guy said to Lena. “Why don’t you take your coat off and stay a while?”

“It’s what hip back in London,” Lena responded. “Plus I got this huge mole on my shoulder I really don’t want people to see. But if you want to.”

“No, no, that’s fine,” the man said before walking away.

“Excuse me,” an African man trying to talk to Fareeha said. “What is that eye tattoo you have there?”

“It honors the memory of my mother, who watches over me,” Fareeha responded.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“No, I mean she is watching over me. In this room. Right now. And if you treat me poorly, she will kill you.”

The man got a spooked look on his face and ran off. Lena and Fareeha had a good laugh about the things they said.

“And now,” the announcer on the overhead said. “from the China National Space Administration, Jian Chen.”

The crowd applauded as Chen made her way to the podium with human and Omnic representatives behind her.

“Thank you, thank you all. As you all know, the world is in a very tense position between humans and Omnics. We are all very much are of the historical conflict between us, but we are forgetting the progress we have made in coexisting together. Today, the Chinese government has made some important steps in this matter. The most important one, which is why I was chosen to speak, is the China National Space Administration is planning a mission to the moon of Jupiter named Europa. The 6 being crew will be half-human, half-Omnic.” 

The crowd gave applause as the astronauts stood up to accept. Sure enough there were three humans and three Omnics. 

“Wow, outer space,” Mei said to Lena as she found her way back to the others. “That must be something you always dreamed of, right Lena?”

“What makes you say that?” Lena responded. “I heard all of Winston’s stories about living on the moon.”

“I just thought, you know, with you being a pilot and the whole slipstream deal,”

Lena cut Mei off mid-sentence. “Don’t even think about mentioning that again.”

“I didn’t mean to. I just thought with outer space and what temporal space you were in.”

“Outer space is full of infinite possibilities and making your own destiny. The void I was in has nothing but endless torture.”

“Lena, you went on an amazing journey to a realm no human ever thought possible.”

“And no should ever have to go there. No one should have to live what I’ve been though.”

“And now,” the announcer on the overhead speakers said. “Presenting the renowned climatologist, Mei-Ling Zhou.”

Mei’s conversation with Lena would have to wait. Applause followed Mei as she made her way to the podium. Lena, Jesse, and Fareeha were cheering moreso.

“Xiexie, xiexie dajia,” (Thank you, thank you very much) Mei said. “Ladies and gentlemen in attendance. I’m very proud of my home country taking the initiative in building a better relationship between humans and Omnics. But clearly more work needs to be done.”

Ana still kept her eye on the festivities, looking at Mei through her scope. Still nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe tonight was just a false alarm with nothing to worry about.

“My own research into the world’s climate has shown in the time since the Omnic crisis ended, with Omnics being integrated into our societies, our world has become less sustainable. And that includes sentient beings with different maintenance needs than biological organisms. We’re still taking a devastating toll on the environment to create proper housing for the Omnics.”

Ana aimed her scope at some other buildings next to Lijang Tower. There, she saw some things that piqued her interest. Some black clad men were repelling down the side of the tower. And on one of the other rooftops, a blue woman in a purple bodysuit was putting together a sniper rifle. 

It’s her, Ana thought. Ameile.

“Guys, I see a sniper on the rooftop to your left,” Ana told everyone on her earpiece. “It’s Widowmaker. She’s aiming right at Mei. Does anyone else have a read on her?”

As soon as the three members not giving a speech got that message, they all looked out the windows to their left. Lena is the first one to spot Widowmaker, a face she’s seen plenty of lately.

“Ana, I have a read,” Lena responded. “I’m going after her,” as she blinked away from everyone.

“Angela, Reinhardt,” McCree said on his earpiece. “The shit’s about to hit the fan.”

Back on her rooftop, Widowmaker continued to adjust her aim, making sure it was perfectly aligned on Mei. An easy target, Widowmaker thought. Those Omnics standing behind her are next. She started to sing to herself again.

“Pres des ramparts de Seville, Chez mon ami, Lilas Pastia, J’irai danser la seguedile, et boire du Manzanilla.”

“Did you not get an invite, love?” said a voice that Widowmaker had become all too familiar with. She turned around to see Lena standing in her dress/jacket combo ready to pull out her guns.

“Tracer,” Widowmaker said under her breath before going to her earpiece. “Talon agents, move in. I can’t make the shot. We have company.” Widowmaker then moved closer to Tracer to take her on.

"Security systems are down," Sombra said from her computer desk. "You're free to breach."

The Talon agents repelling down the side of the tower were getting ready to break in through the windows. The Yakusa stormed the front entrance with their guns out. Hanzo walked in after them with Satya, armed with his bow.

The crowd truly started to panic when Reaper showed up in his over-the-top manner. By appearing in a cloud of purple fog in the middle of the crowd. He fired off his shotguns a few times to get everyone’s attention.

“Now,” Reaper said in his low, growly voice. “It’s time to feed.”

Talon men burst through the windows with guns aimed right at the crowd. The Yakuza aimed their guns too. Hanzo aimed his bow at the stage. Satya just watched on, with her hard-light device ready to create anything she might need.

“Who will it be first?” Reaper continued pointing his guns around the crowd. “Will it be Zhou? Chen? One of these Omnics there?”

“The least you could do is check your cloak at the door,” Reaper heard a voice before he could see the flashbang coming at his face, exploding. After a few seconds, he came to and saw Jesse McCree, his former protégé, coming at him ready to punch with his robot hand. The punch forced Reaper to the ground, with Jesse aiming his pistol at him.

“You’re nothing but talk, you know that?” Jesse said. But before he could pull the trigger, Reaper dematerialized into the purple smoke and reformed himself up in the rafters. 

“Open fire!” Reaper shouted.

The Talon men and Yakuza started shooting at the crowd while Jesse shot off his round before ducking. Mei ran off the stage, working to assemble her drone.

“Angela,” Fareeha said on her earpiece while hiding behind a table. “Activate the Raptora suit. And get down here. We need all the help we can.

After a few seconds of waiting, the Raporta suit flew through one of the broken windows, landing at Fareeha’s feet, and opened up, waiting for her to get inside. She quickly made her way inside, set up the weapons systems, and flew into the air. 

At the entrance, Reinhardt, now geared up in a knightly suit of armor, made his grand appearance. He threw his hammer down at the floor, sending Hanzo, Satya, and the Yakuza flying.

“This is the kind of battle I live for!” Reinhardt shouted.

The little victory was short lived as Satya tried to fashion some clamps around Reinhardt’s legs, getting him to fall over. This was to no avail as Reinhardt just swung his hammer to knock her away. 

Angela showed up behind Reinhardt, her Valkyrie suit fully operational. “Tell everyone to evacuate. Send them towards me,” she said on her earpiece. The three agents were motioning people to move towards the woman who looked like an angel. A few started to go right away, then more followed. Those lucky enough to make it the whole way were greeted with Ziegler’s assurances that everything will be okay.

Up on the rooftop across the way, Lena and Widowmaker kept at it. Widowmaker trying no more than to shoot her rifle in sub-machine gun form, while Lena used her guns and speed mostly to distract Widowmaker as she goes in for punches.

“What’s the occasion for your dress?” Widowmaker said during one of those close moments.

“I thought I’d dress up for when I take you down. Since it’s such a momentous occasion,” Lena said as she landed a punch and blinked away.

“What was that song you were singing?” Lena asked while dodging bullets. 

“What are you talking about?” Widowmaker said trying to take aim, with Lena appearing on the other side of building now.

“La la ramparts of Seville. La la yadda yadda. You know what you sang,” Lena said as she pulled the triggers of her guns hiding behind an air vent.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Widowmaker said rolling on the roof floor dodging the lasers.

“I don’t appreciate what you tried to do to my friend Mei,” Lena said before blinking, managing to hit Widowmaker in the foot with one of her lasers, causing her to wince in pain. “And I really don’t like what you did to Mondatta. He was one of my heroes.” Another blink closer. “As far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t have any worries shooting a Talon agent dead right now.”

When Lena was finally close enough, Widowmaker aimed her left arm at her and shot out a projectile, unleashing a purple smoke. Upon breathing the smoke, Lena started choking and tears ran down her eyes, pooling up inside her goggles.

“The Widow’s Venom,” Widowmaker said as got back up, with noticeable pain in her feet. Lena fell down on the floor, still coughing. “This dose of poison gas was made just for you. To get rid of annoying pests.”

Meanwhile, back in the tower, Fareeha again ducked behind a table, this time with Jesse. They alternated between appearing above the table shooting at the Talon forces. Then, when Jesse was taking his time firing, he felt an arrow go through his left hand. It was made of metal, but Jesse still felt the pain.

“Mei,” Fareeha said in her earpiece. “We could use some of your freezing gadgets now.”

“I’m on it,” Mei replied as she finished programming the drone. “Okay, little guy. Get in there.”

The drone slid across the ground, making it’s way to some steps where Talon agents had gathered up. It emitted out a cooling gas that froze the agent’s legs. Sticking them to the ground.

Before Fareeha could fully stand up and make a shot at the immobile targets, she saw someone new enter the fray. A man jumped through one of the broken windows and started shooting at the frozen men. Someone with grey hair, a red visor, and a jacket with a 76 on the back

“Team,” Fareeha said into her earpiece. “Anyone know who this new guy is?”

“I know who he is,” Ana responded. “He’s an old friend.”

“Who then?”

“Jack Morrison.” 

The best Overwatch soldier Jack Morrison? What was he doing here?

The Talon men stopped firing at the Overwatch members and fired on Soldier 76. Reaper just watched from the rafters looking at the man he once called his friend.

“Jack,” Reaper growled from above. 

“Gabriel,” Soldier 76 responded, looking at Reaper’s way. He pressed a button on his visor. “I got you in my sights.”

As Soldier 76 shot his rounds up at Reaper, Reaper both dematerialized into purple smoke and Satya set up a shield to deflect the lasers away.

“We’ve done enough here,” Reaper said once he reconstituted himself on the ground. “Retreat.” The remaining Talon men, Hanzo, and Satya made their way out the entranceway.

“Oh no you don’t!” Soldier 76 yelled as he charged after them, only have Reinhardt block the way with his shield.

“Widowmaker,” Reaper said on his earpiece as they made their way to the airship “We’re retreating now. I repeat, retreat.”

“In a moment,” Widowmaker responded. “I have one last thing to take care of.”

Lena still laid down on the rooftop knocked out from the poison gas. Her body twitched as she tried to get up, but didn’t have the strength to. Widowmaker held her down with her left foot. The high heel felt it like it was going to puncture Lena’s stomach.

“Such a nice dress you have on,” Widowmaker said. “It’s a shame you wasted it here.”

“Widowma--. . .” Lena tried to say, “I’m gonna . . . stop. . .”

Widowmaker bent down and ripped open Lena’s jacket, revealing the chronal accelerator. “So this is what makes the great Tracer tick. It makes you go fast?”

“No. . . . no. . .don’t”

“I should’ve done this back on King’s Row,” Widowmaker said as she pulled out a knife out of her boot and jabbed it into the chronal accelerator, breaking the glass. After a few turns of the knife, breaking some wires and misplacing some gears, Widowmaker pulled the knife out on put it back into her boot. The blue light of the accelerator now flashing off and on. 

“I have a flight to catch. Till next time, au revoir cherie,” Widowmaker bid farewell as she she jumped across the nearby rooftops heading back to the airship pickup point.

The tear’s stopped rolling out of Lena eye’s as she saw Widowmaker make her escape. She didn’t pay mind to the chronal accelerator blinking. All that mattered was making sure Widowmaker didn’t get away. Lena started to give chase, running across the same rooftops. Then, she saw Widowmaker shoot her grapple hook to a building across a street. 

Lena slowed down as she prepared her mind to make the jump. Blinking over the gap won’t be hard, Lena thought. It will be over before you know it, like every other time. Lena backed up to one edge of the roof, breathed deep and ran to the other edge. As she made it past the ledge, she blinked.

Instead of making to the roof on the other side, Lena crashed headfirst into a window of the building, landing against an office cubicle wall.

“What?” Lena said, still slightly dazed. She noticed the blinking on her accelerator become more and more spaced out. She got up and walked towards the window. She could see ambulances making their way to Lijang tower, only a few blocks away. 

“Come on accelerator,” Lena said as she blinked again. She just wanted to end up on the street below. She did get that part right, but she ran into a street pole she didn’t mean to, which knocked her down on the ground again. 

As Lena looked at her left hand from the ground, she noticed something happening. Her fingers were starting to look like they were caught in a computer glitch, with some fingers disappearing for a split second before reappearing.

Oh god, Lena thought. It’s happening again.

“Winston!” Lena said into her earpiece as loud as she could while still managing to sound dazed. “Widowmaker got away. And . . . she broke the accelerator.”

“Broke the accelerator?” Winston replied.

“Yes, someone hurry because the disassociation’s starting again!”

“Angela is on her way, Lena. We have another person of interest we’re dealing with right now.” 

Inside, amidst all the damage of the former banquet hall, Soldier 76 was surrounded by the Overwatch members. He tried finding any escape route to no avail. He would have to charge at any one of them to escape, which would prove costly either way. He kept spinning around like a paranoid man looking for a way out until he came face to face with Winston.

“Hello Jack,” Winston said before knocking Jack out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack:
> 
> The Dead Heart - Midnight Oil
> 
> The Winds of War - Isengard
> 
> True Survivor - David Hasselhoff
> 
> Near the Ramparts of Seville - George Bizet's Carmen


	5. Que Veux Tu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soldier 76 is asked some questions. Tracer has a dream. Junkrat, Roadhog, and Symmetra discover something. An attack on Gibraltar.

1.

“Give me all the spare parts in here!” Winston shouted standing over Lena’s body on the ship’s table.

Even at the airship’s fastest subsonic speeds, it would take around 5 hours to make the journey back to Gibraltar from Lijang. Time that Winston didn’t have to waste. Lena’s temporal disassociation was getting worse. Other parts of her body were fading in and out. Not all the way or all at once, since the accelerator was still partially functional, but various sections like arms, legs, and torso would occasionally be transparent before becoming opaque again.

All the teammates, except Fareeha, who was flying the ship, and Jack, still knocked out from Winston’s punch, pulled open drawers looking for anything they could use. Wire, scrap metal, batteries, anything that could help. 

“Winston,” McCree asked, “If Lena’s accelerator’s broken, how is she still here?”

“The damage was only done to her frontpiece,” Winston said sodering some pieces together. “The temporal field around her is still active, but weakening. Any breach of the field will cause the disassociation to start again.”

The ship was going as fast as it could go, but they had just entered Kazakhstan airspace. Everybody watched on as Winston was essentially conducting open-heart surgery to save Lena’s life. He spliced wires and added more pieces to the puzzle, working as fast and carefully as he could.

Lena was still knocked out from her battle with Widowmaker and the shock of initial disassociation, going in and out of consciousness. She very slowly came too, with her eyes giving her blurry vision, she saw Winston working on something.

“Winston,” Lena muttered. “what’s . . . happening?”

“Lena,” Winston said reassuringly. “Just stay calm. Everything is going to be fine.”

“I was . . . . fading . . . into . . . nothing . . . and”

“I’m working to keep you here with us now, everything will be fine.”

“I . . . saw,” Lena looked down at her legs, which were more transparent than solid. Her torso jumped up as she let a big scream. The team members watching Lena had to hold her down

“Winston! Winston! It’s happening again! Do something!”

“Ana!” Winston demanded. “I need your sleeping darts!”

Ana pulled out her dart gun and shot it at Lena. The sleeping agent took effect immediately as Lena felt drowzy.

“I’m gonna . . . leave . . you all,” Lena said before finally falling asleep.

‘Thanks Ana. I should be almost done with this thing now.”

“Winston,” Ana asked. “What if that can’t be fixed?”

“I designed the accelerator myself Ana. I know what parts go where.”

“I mean, just, what if she can’t be saved?”

Winston paused for a moment before saying, “then I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”

Winston made the final touches on the accelerator before sealing it up. The blue light was constant now, no longer blinking. None of Lena’s body parts were transparent anymore. The accelerator was working properly.

“Thank god,” Winston said relieved. “Fareeha. Lena’s stable now. You can slow the ship down.”

 

2.

Jack woke up, finding himself tied up to a chair behind a table. The last thing he remembered was getting punched by the gorilla. Thank god for the super soldier enhancements in his body. If it weren’t for that, he’d most likely be dead. Not certain if that’s entirely preferable to the situation he found himself in now.

He recognized the place. This was the interrogation room Overwatch used on Gibraltar. He interrogated plenty of criminals himself here in the past. Funny he would find himself on the other side of the process.

Jack didn’t have his visor on. One of the agents must’ve taken it. Didn’t matter know, since they knew who Soldier 76 was now.

Winston, Ana, Torbjorn, and Reinhardt walked into the room, sitting on the other side of the table from Jack.

“Jack,” Winston started off. “You didn’t respond to the message I sent out.”  
“Quite frankly I didn’t believe it,” Jack replied. “It could’ve been a trap or just a mistake.”

“Yet here we are. You certainly knew Talon would show up at Lijang.”

“I wasn’t there for Talon. Just for Reyes. He was responsible for the downfall of Overwatch and I wanted to take him out personally.”

“Overwatch is up and running again Jack, no thanks to you or Gabirel,” Torbjorn said very discouraged. He put Jack’s red visor on the table “What’s with the visor? And the 76 on your jacket anyway?”

“It’s the identity I made for myself in these hard times. When people have to take the law into their own hands. Why don’t you ask Ana? She knew about this.”

“Is this true?” Winston asked turning to her.

“Yes,” Ana admitted. “We had a run-in in Egypt where he was going after Gabriel.”

“So what about Overwatch now?” Jack asked. “Did the U.N. sanction all this again?”

The other Overwatch members were silent to that before Winston spoke, “Well . . .no, we’re doing this on our own.”

“So. You’re no better than me then?”

“From what info we gathered about you in Dorado,” Reinhardt said, “you killed an entire gang. That’s not what the Jack Morrison I know would do.”

“That gang was helping fund Talon and lead me to Lijang in the first place.”

“We don’t do the take-no-prisoners attitude Jack,” Ana replied. “We never have!”

Jack got quiet, pondering his thoughts, thinking about the next step to take. “Winston, why did you initiate the recall in the first place?”

“Reaper attacked this very base, looking for data on all former Overwatch agents. It was the proactive thing to do.”

“Some team you have. A bunch of inexperienced kids and has-beens.”

“We are not has-beens!” Torbjorn shouted. “Tough words coming from someone of the same generation as us.”

“The team could use some real leadership from an old dog. You don’t really strike me as the leading type Winston.”

“So you’re agree to join us then?” Winston asked.

“Well you’re probably not going to let me leave here the way I wanted to. Might as well see what the old team is up to.” 

 

3.

Lena found herself in front of a discotheque, “Monde Imaginaire”. Back in the King’s Row district of London. She was wearing a leather jacket, an orange tank top, and Union Jack tight shorts. Along with her accelerator of course. How did she get here? What did it matter? She just wanted to get inside and have some fun. Security would be no trouble. She could just blink right past them. And so she did.

Inside, she looked around to see if the other Overwatch teammates were there. Lucio was the club DJ, playing a song going “I got love on my mind” over and over again. Lena walked up to the bar to get a drink.

“Cheers love, what do you got?” Lena asked.

“Any kind of booze you can imagine,” the bartender responded.

“Alright, I’ll have a sidecar.”

“Coming right up.”

“How long has this place been open?”

“Only for a few days. It’s already the happening place for humans and Omnics.”

“Funny. I’ve never heard of it.”

“Yet you found your way in here fine. Your drink is ready.”

The bartender set the mixed drink down and Tracer took as she tried to see where her friends were. The song changed to some French synthpop. She made her way to a table where Fareeha, Angela, and Genji were sitting.

“Hey loves. How come you aren’t dancing?”

“We’ve been doing plenty of that, Lena,” Fareeha responded. “Besides, I thought we should enjoy each other’s company,” she said before her and Angela started kissing each other, holding each others heads. When they finished, Angela started kissing Genji the same way.

“Okay then,” Lena said trying not to make direct eye contact. “Didn’t know this was a thing. Where’s everybody else?’

“They’re out and about,” Angela said. “I stopped keeping track a while ago.” Genji and Fareeha leaned over Angela to kiss each other.

“Let you get back to that then. Catch you later,” Lena chugged down her drink and moved on to the dance floor. The music changed to Daft Punk. She found Hana, Aleksandra, Mei, and Jesse in a group and joined them. Winston was standing by himself outside the dancefloor’s boundaries. 

“Winston! Come on show us your moves!”

“I don’t have any, Lena. Not if I want to hurt somebody.”

“Come on, it’s easy. Here, I’ll show you.”

Lena’s dance moves involved spinning around, blinking short distances within the breakdancing circle forming around her, making flips in the air, and doing splits on the floor. Everyone was cheering her on to more and more impressive stunts. Lena did a split on the floor when the song’s guitar solo started and strobe lights went off around the club. At that point, Lena became scared. None of her friends were there anymore. Everyone around her turned into a Talon agent. 

And she was face to face with Widowmaker again.

The music changed to something harder, a Justice remix. Lena got up and backed away fast with Widowmaker following her. She closed her eyes and tried blinking away. When her eyes opened again, she found herself still going at normal speed. She tried again, this time standing still. It didn’t work again. 

“Get her over here,” Widowmaker ordered. “She looks ridiculous.” 

Two Talon agents dragged Lena across the floor. Lena tried blinking again to no avail. She tried struggling free to break the terrorist’s grips, but that didn’t work either.

Widowmaker walked closer and closer to Lena with their faces eventually only inches away from each other at the center of the dancefloor.

“You won’t be needing this anymore,” Widowmaker said as she removed Lena’s jacket, pulled out a knife, and cut off the straps of the chronal accelerator. As it fell to the floor, the Talon men let go of their grip on Lena as Widowmaker grabbed her. She planted a kiss on Lena’s lips before saying, “Au Revior, Cherie, pour la derniere fois!” (Goodbye sweetheart, for the last time!) Widowmaker threw Lena into the air, and Lena could feel her body changing, going into a different time.

When Lena landed, she found herself in an alley in a cold city. Somewhere in Eastern Europe from the looks of the architecture. Snow was falling from the sky. She could at least feel the snow on her face. That’s a good sign. She at least had a solid form. 

There was screaming and a bright orange light. Lena ran down the snow-covered streets to the main boulevard to see what was happening. The commotion quickly turned to horror. A battle was happening between Omnics and Talon troops. No care was taken about the buildings being destroyed or the people hurt or killed. The two sides thought about nothing more than destroying each other. Lena could do more than watch on, frightened for herself. 

The Talon men managed to push the Omnics back thanks to the arrival of better firepower. Lena ducked into the wreckage of one of the buildings to get a closer look. As she saw the Talon forces moving up, she recognized the weapons they were using. Is that Fareeha’s armor? Lena thought. And Hana’s mech? And Aleksandra’s gun?

“Dopomozhit! Dopomozhit!” (Help! Help!) Lena heard someone cry out.

Someone’s in the wreckage. Gotta help. 

Deeper in the building’s debris, Lena followed the voice to a collapsed staircase. Underneath the broken wood, metal railings, and fine plaster walls, Lena could see a rectangular hole. The source of the voice.

“Dopomozhit! Khto nebud’ dopomohty!” (Help! Someone help me!) the voice continued to say.

“Don’t worry,” Lena said. “I’m here to help. Just reach out your hand, and I’ll grab it.”

The person making the voice stuck their right arm out, covered with ash and bloody scrapes. 

Zakhopyty odyn!” (Grab my hand!) the voice said. 

Lena reached out to grab the arm, making sure she was secure enough among the wreckage. Their hands were about to make contact, but Lena couldn’t get a grip. She couldn’t even touch the hand. Hers just waved right through as if neither were there.

“Zakhopyty Odyn!” (Grab my hand!) the voice shouted.

“I can’t. I’m sorry, but I can’t” Lena said, starting to cry. She could see her body starting to glitch out. 

In a blink of an eye, Lena found herself somewhere new. This time, amidst a huge crowd of people. She didn’t recognize where she was again, just in a public square with everyone giving attention to the centerpiece fortress with silver T banners draping the sides. The crowd was constantly cheering and making noise.

Talon? Lena thought. Is that who it is?

On a perch overlooking the square, Lena could see Reaper, surrounded by Talon men and Widowmaker, giving a speech.

“The last remains of the Omnics have been disposed of,” Reaper said to the crowd. “A relic of the past just like Overwatch. The world will truly know peace through Talon.”

This is madness. How is this possible?

Widowmaker moved closer to Reaper to whisper something into his ear. Reaper stopped talking to pay attention.

“Everyone,” Reaper said as he spoke again. “There is a former Overwatch agent in this crowd. One who’s constantly foiled our plans for peace many times. One by the name of Tracer.”

Lena’s heart sank further than she thought it could as she tried making her escape through the masses.

“There she is,” Reaper pointed down at the crowd. “With the spiked hair and British shorts. Get her!”

With that final command, the faceless crowd still surrounding Lena easily caught her, holding her down on the ground. Widowmaker used her grappling hook to land in the crowd, making her way to Lena. Her sniper rifle was aimed right at Lena’s forehead. All Lena could do was scream.

“Lena, Lena! Wake up!”

Lena shot out of her bed in a cold sweat, breathing heavily as if she ran a marathon. She immediately saw Angela by her side, the voice that woke her up.

“Angela,” Lena said frantically, hugging the good doctor, “Oh Angela, I’m still here.”

“You were screaming enough to wake the whole base up.”

“I guess . . it was just a bad nightmare then.”

Angela put her hand on Lena’s forehand. “Mei Gott Lena, you’re sweating up a storm. Is there anything wrong you want to tell me?”

Lena didn’t respond.

“Does this have to the chronal accelerator?”

Again, Lena didn’t respond. She just stared at the bump in the bed made from her legs under the covers.

“Why don’t you tell me about it?” 

Lena wasn’t sure where to start. So she just starts diving into, still notably shaken.

“It just started in a club. I was having fun dancing with the team. Then everyone just turned into Talon people and Widowmaker took off my accelerator. The temporal disassociation sent me to some other place. I don’t know where or when, but Talon was fighting the Omnics. And I tried saving someone from a collapsed building but I couldn’t because of the disassociation which sent me to some other time where Talon ruled the world and this crowd came after me.”

Lena could’ve rambled on some more about what she saw, but she ended up hugging Angela again and crying on her shoulder.

“Hey, is everything okay in here?” Winston said as he entered.

“Lena’s just having nightmares about temporal disassociation again,” Angela responded unable to get Lena off of her.

“Would a peanut butter sandwich make you feel better?”

“No, but thanks anyway,” Lena said with a stuffy nose from crying so much.

“So, you were dreaming about disassociation again? After what happened earlier?”

“It was a bloody nightmare. Widowmaker took my accelerator away and my body got sent to the future where Talon took over the world and I couldn’t do a thing to save anybody because I couldn’t touch anything and,”

“Lena, calm yourself down,” Winston said as he put his hands on Lena’s shoulders. “You’re here now. You’re anchored to the present. You’re perfectly safe.”

“But Winston. What if this thing fails and you don’t have spare parts lying around? And I go off flying to random time periods again? My mind can’t take doing that again. I can’t even imagine what it was like worrying about me the first time around.”

“Lena, I worked tirelessly on the accelerator when you reappeared in our time because I could never imagine you leaving the people who love you again. Even if this device of yours is broken, I’ll build another one. If chronal accelerators no longer keep you in the present, I’ll build something else that will. You won’t ever have to worry about leaving us again.”

Lena and Winston then hugged each other, with Lena still crying a bit.

“The sandwich offer is still on the table.”

“No thanks, big guy. I really need some sleep. But thanks for everything else.”

“In the morning, I’ll make some more upgrades to the accelerator so something like that doesn’t happen again.”

 

4.

“Are you sure about this? 100% positive?” Arendse said to his assistants.

All the information Dumitrescu and Amirmoez gathered was lying on Arendse’s desk and pulled up on the computer monitors.

“The Overwatch ship that fled Lijang did make it’s way back to Gibraltar,” Dumitrescu said. “From what we could gather, every agent that was present at the Lijang attack made their way back on that ship. Eight were formerly with the original Overwatch.”

“What about this Fareeha Amari? She’s not present in the old files.”

“She’s former Egyptian military and works for Helix Security International.” Amirmoez said. “Her mother, Ana, is in the files.”

“Great. First Korea gets involved; now what if Egypt starts harassing me that a soldier defected?”

“Sir, what happened at Lijang was a clear violation of the Petras Act,” Dumitrescu starts to rumble on. “And all persons involved must be punished.”

“Denisa, if they weren’t there, we would’ve had a more serious international incident than what we ended up with. Dead human and Omnic leaders and hundreds more in casualties.”

“We live in a world that no matter how desperate things seem, we still abide by laws. The U.N. is still the highest authority on international matters, not what former agents going around as vigilantes do. And in this situation, it means arresting whoever is calling themselves Overwatch.”

Arendse didn’t give a response, too deep in his own thoughts to make a clear decision. 

“Let me remedy what I said with this, Mr. Secretary General. The original Overwatch wad disbanded because of public opinion and a paper trail of corruption that lead straight back to U.N. leaders. Would you be willing to go through all that again if you let these lawbreakers get away?”

 

5.

“You performed less than satisfactory, Reaper.”

Reaper, Hanzo, and Widowmaker were called before the Talon leaders at the headquarters to go over the Lijang mission. It had been deemed a failure due to only civilians getting killed and not any high profile figures.

“We were not counting on Overwatch agents being there,” Reaper said.

“Pray that you do the next time around. We’re not pleased with your string of failures lately.”

“What about my men,” Hanzo interjected. “I lost 10 good men back in Lijang. How am I going to tell their families they died fighting for such an ignoble cause?”

“They will be treated as any other Talon agent who dies would.”

Hanzo did not like the sound of that.

“What about you Widowmaker? You had no confirmed kills in the battle.”

“I took care of the woman called Tracer,” Widowmaker said. “She won’t be giving us any problems soon.”

“Again, no confirmed kills. You better pray that’s the case. You’re all dismissed.” 

As the three of them left the room into a hallway, Hanzo raised his voice.

“My men are going to be disavowed like any other Talon soldier? They have families, people who care about them.”

“That’s not my concern Hanzo,” Reaper replied. 

“Back in Japan when my men were killed by another clan, we at least had a proper honorable funeral for them. Talon would be well to do the same to treat men with respect.”

Widowmaker shot Hanzo a glaring look. “You’d be well to stay in line, archer. Or I’ll arrange yours.”

Meanwhile in another part of the base, Jamie and Mako were in their quarters, disgruntled over not being called on for the attack. 

“I just can’t believe it Mako!’ Jamie said angrily walking back and forth. “There we were, the chance to be on the frontlines of the great war of our time. And we don’t even get a “Hey Junkrat, mind planting some bombs? Hey Junkrat, could you set some traps here or there?’”

“It was one mission,” Mako responded sitting on his cot. “There will be plenty more.”

“Mako, this is about respect more than going on duty. Junkers have been the laughing stock of the human race for years. Just because we blew up one Omnium on our territory, suddenly we’re seen as miscreants.”

“And the radiation part. You keep forgetting that.”

“I’m telling you, joining up with Talon was a bad rap. They’re not gonna give us anything we want.”

“Satya gave us her word.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Roadie. She seemed unhappy to be on that mission. Maybe she knows some dirt about this place that made her sad.”

“This is a terrorist group you’re talking about.”

“No, not that kind of dirt! I meant like other secrets they don’t want ordinary troopers to know about. That can give us some leverage to give more of what we want.”

“It’s always when we have something good that you have to screw us over, Jamie.”

“Oi mate. When this is all done, you’ll be thanking me that I hadn’t thought of this sooner.”

Jamie and Mako left their quarters and made their way to Satya’s room, down some black meandering hallways. Meanwhile, Satya was communicating to her associates back at Vishkar on her computer.

“How can you have me join killing rampages like that?” Satya told Sunder Misra and Swarna Jain. “A public representative of Vishkar present at a terrorist attack? What will people think of the company?”

“Satya,” Misra replied. “We just need you to stay there a little while longer. Our stocks are going up since the incident.”

“Up? I was almost killed by a giant metal hammer!”

“People are counting on Vishkar to help with the rebuilding process in attacks around the world. Lijang is no different. We’re getting U.N. deals because of these.”

“The public is going to turn against us when they see me involved.”

“Sombra has taken care of that. She’s erased any trace of you from ever appearing at Lijang. You can rest easy for now Satya. Communication End.”

The screen Satya was talking to went dark. Satya felt hopeless, trapped in a dark place that cared nothing for true order she sought in this world. She was left behind.

“Well, if that ain’t a good scam if I ever heard one.”

Satya turned around to her door to see what that voice was. It was Jamie and Mako standing in her doorway.

“You two,” Satya said angrily, but with a hint of desperation. “That was supposed to be a private conversation.”

“You were duped into being here? That’s rubbish mate.” 

Satya let down how she really felt, “Yes Jamie, it is rubbish.”

“You know what might cheer you up? Since Roadie and I are feelin’ duped after the mission, we were gonna ask you if you knew any dirt on Talon. Well now you can help us find more.”

“I imagine that won’t be hard for a terrorist group,” Satya said sarcastically.

“Not that kind of dirt, sheila! Just something the bosses don’t want the troops to know about.”

“I think I can help with that,” Satya said as she logged into her room’s computer. She had helped build some of Vishkar’s database. Hacking into a terrorist’s database with one of the world’s most feared hackers on their side. How hard could that be?

While searching the Talon files for what felt like an hour, Satya came across something called “The God Program.” She clicked on the icon and some videos popped up. She clicked on the first one. It showed an Omnic strapped to an operating table struggling to break loose, some computers, specialized medical equipment for Omnics, and three Talon men.

“This is the first test subject of the God Program project,” one of the scientists said to the camera. “What we are attempting today is human control over an Omnic for the first time since before the first crisis. To achieve that, we will be implanting these miniature receivers in the Omnic equivalent of the brain stem. Let’s get started.”

A switch was thrown to shut the Omnic down. The scientists removed the machine’s head to achieve their goal. The receivers were sodered to the neck and hardwired to the rest of the Omnic’s circuitry. The head was put back in its rightful place. The video ended.

Satya played the second video. More scientists were present watching the Omnic from behind glass in a control room. The mechanical being was alone in a firing range, holding a semi-automatic laser rifle.

“On it’s own,” the scientist said. “the Omnic is a non-violent being. Wanting nothing more than to live out a peaceful existence. But now, with our prototype of the God program, let’s see how he reacts.”

Some buttons were pressed on the control room’s computer and the Omnic aimed its rifle. Target’s popped up from the floor and roof and the Omnic proceeded to shoot them with near pinpoint accuracy. After more targets popping out of the walls, a human tied to a chair popped out of the floor. The Omnic shot the man the same as it did with the other targets. Without any hesitation.

“It’s a success! The Omnic has obeyed every input the program has given it. Just imagine a whole army of these under Talon control!” The video ended.

“What kind of bullshit is this?” Jamie said as the video went away. “Talon wants Omnics around instead of blowing them up?”

“This does explain a great deal,” Satya said as shocked as Jamie was. 

“Explain what? We joined this thing to help take back what rightfully belongs to humanity. Now I find out we have to work these abominations? Mako, come on. We’ve gotta tell the junkers not to come.”

Something clicked in Satya’s said. It would be a definite risk, but anything would be better than working with Talon.

“Jamie, this is exactly what you wanted. You wanted something to go after Talon with, this is it. The smoking gun. If we can crack this or get this someone who can, we can end Talon’s plans.” 

“To who then, sheila?” Jamie asked. “The police? The army? Those Overwatch people we’re supposed to fight against.”

“Ideally, that’s what I was hoping for.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but Roadie and I prefer to do things are own way before calling in help.”

A new blink had just appeared on the computer screen. When Satya looking for what it was, she saw a message from Sombra about a new mission.

“We have a new assignment, Jamie,” Satya said confused.

“Where? Are we gonna blow something up?” Jamie responded with excitement.

“I don’t think you or Mako will like it. It’s in Numbani.”

 

6.

Angela waited in the base’s examination room. She had requested a medical test on Jack to see if he was really as physically fit as he says.

“Doctor,” Jack said as he entered the room.

“Jack,” Angela replied. “I assume you remember how to do this.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jack said as he took off his shirt and sat on the examining table. As Angela took a look at his body, she noticed all the scars. She remembered patching him up some of them from past missions, and those had healed up nicely. But a few were quite fresh. Ones she didn’t recognize.

“What have you been up to, Jack?”

“Being a soldier, like I was trained my whole life to do.”

“I assume these new scars weren’t just from Dorado and Lijang?” Angela asked as she took down notes.

“There was one mission in Egypt. I was so close to getting Reyes there.”

“I assume there were others,” Angela said as she put her stethoscope on his chest.

“Many, many others.”

“It’s a good thing the super soldier serum in your system is still working. Any other man your age attempting those things would surely be dead. What’s kept you going for so long after Switzerland?”

Jack took a moment to collect himself before going on. “It was Reyes the whole time. He destroyed Overwatch. And now, he’s Reaper. Working for the enemy. I want to see him pay for what he’s done. For tearing our family apart, Angela. For ruining everything.”

“Jack,” Angela said consoling him, touching his face with her right hand. “We were all sad when we heard you and Gabriel died. Even more when Overwatch disbanded. But we all managed to move past that. To see what new challenges the world has in store.”

“If that’s the case, I still don’t understand why anybody is back. Why are you all doing this?”

Angela took down some more notes after stretching Jack’s limbs. “Winston had a really good sales pitch, which I’m assuming you saw. Personally, I saw it as another challenge. Stretching my capabilities in helping the world.”

“What about everyone else? It’s like we have children on the team now.”

“I assume they want the same thing. Just to help. And weren’t we around their age when we joined Overwatch?”

Suddenly, Winston’s voice came over the speakers.

“Everyone, gather in the computer room immediately!”

“Well,” Angela said helping Jack put his shirt back on. “We’ll have to finish this some other time then.” 

Angela and Jack were the last to arrive. Winston had everyone pay attention to the screen, which showed a radar map of the Gibraltar base and some dots that were coming from the south.

“We have enemy airships approaching our vicinity,” Winston said in a way that tried to calm everyone before they got too flustered. 

“Enemy airships?!” Lena said nervously. “Who is it?”

“Is it Talon?” the older members asked.

“Is it the Omnics?” Aleksandra asked.

“Please tell me it’s not Vishkar,” Lucio said.

“I . . I don’t know how to tell you all this, but” Winston started to say before being interrupted by the ships commander.

“To whomever is operating out of Watchpoint Gibraltar under the Overwatch banner, this is a United Nations’ task force. You are in violation of Petreas Act, outlawing any Overwatch activity. Surrender peacefully, and no harm will come to you or this base.”

None of the team members were expecting to hear that, though it was something Winston had feared since initiating the recall. 

“The U.N.?” Lena said. “But we didn’t do anything wrong.”

“On the contrary Lena,” Winston replied in a somber tone. “We broke international protocol just by being here. It was the risk we all took.”

“Well Winston,” Jack said. “Since you’re the team leader, what’s your plan?”

“Yeah monkey,” Torbjorn interjected. “Your plan had be better than me just giving myself up.”

“Okay, okay. First off, if anybody wishes to turn themselves in to the authorities, now would be the time to speak up.”

No one responded to Winston, indicating their solidarity.

“Ok. So we’re officially in agreement. I do have an idea for a plan, but I’m open to all suggestions.”

“What does your plan involve?” Reinhardt asked.

“Mainly escaping without a trace.”

“Winston, if you don’t mind,” Jack brought up, “I have some ideas that have a bit more flair to them.”

The U.N. airships were waiting for 10 minutes, giving out intermediate warnings.

“Overwatch, this is your last warning. If you don’t come out by the time I,”

“Friends!” Reinhardt shouted as he approached the main landing area, covered in his battle armor. His shouts were loud enough for the men aboard the aircraft to here him. Torbjorn came out with him. “What can we do for you?”

“Are you Reinhardt Willhelm and Torbjorn Lindholm?”

“Yes we are! Sorry to keep all of you waiting. You caught us in the middle of our cleaning break.”

“You’re well aware you two are in violation of the Petreas Act by being here, correct?”

“Somebody has to look over the place and make sure everything’s in shape,” Torbjorn shouted, though not as much as Reinhardt. “The monkey can’t do it by himself. And you’re no help.”

While Reinhardt and Torbjorn stall for time, Winston, Angela, Lucio, Lena, Zenyatta, Genji, and Mei get on an aircraft in the private hanger. All systems were functioning and the plan was ready to proceed.

“Your trial will be a speedy one and you’ll get to keep all your previous honors.”

“Oh, so you have the power to take them away from me, tiny man in the ship?” Reinhardt’s voice boomed once more. “How about I give you the chance to leave us alone?”

“If you don’t surrender, we’ll arrest you by force.”

“Well,” Reinhardt said as he activated his shield. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried that on me. Torbjorn!”

Torbjorn pushed a button on a remote in his pocket. The button activated four double barrel turrets in the cliffs overlooking the ocean. The U.N. ships were unprepared, with one immediately taking the brunt of the damage and falling into the ocean.

“Open fire!” the airship commander shouted.

As he said that, two more ships fell into the water. Not from the turrets, but from sniper fire. Ana and McCree were hiding in a rock formation near the turrets. 

“Is this the part where you say, ‘It’s High Noon?’” Ana asked.

“No, that’s before I shoot something,” McCree replied bitterly. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” and the two retreated to the hanger.

The U.N. airships starting raining fire down on the base with enough force to shake even the underground hanger. Reinhardt’s shield managed to adequately protect him and Torbjorn, but he knew it wouldn’t last forever. Everyone needed to play their part quick. 

On another rock ledge, Bastion appeared in turret form and started shooting. Fareeha, in the Raptora suit, and Hana, in her mech, flew into the sky to return fire. Aleksandra shot her particle cannon into the sky as she ran up behind Reinhardt’s shield. Jack gave out orders to the team standing near the entrance to the secret hanger, where he had a good view of the action.

15 airships came to take on the reformed Overwatch. By the time Torbjorn, Bastion, Aleksandra, Jack, and Fareeha did their part and retreated, 5 remained.

Only Reinhardt and Hana were left on the landing pad. Instead of heading towards the aircraft, they run towards the cliffs edge, drawing the aircraft to them. Reinhardt dropped his shield down to run faster as Hana threw her boosters on at full speed. As they went over the cliff, Hana aimed the mech up towards the aircraft as she ejected, landing in Reinhardt’s arms as they dived into the water. The mech’s self-destruct sequence went off, destroying two more aircraft. 

“Commander,” said the pilot of one of the remaining airships. “What do you want us to do now?”

“Destroy the place,” the commander ordered. “Look for any bodies afterwards.”

With that command, the remaining airships fired whatever missiles they had left at the base. The main hanger, the laboratory, the living quarters, the weapons storage spaces, they were all hit and the flames spread quickly.

The three airships landed and soldier disembarked to investigate the smoldering embers still burning. Their searches into the base proved fruitless, finding the place completely evacuated.

Underneath the ocean’s waves, Reinhardt evacuated his suit and swam with Hana following behind. The craft Winston was piloting was waiting for them, now acting as a submarine. Everybody else was safe onboard when it finally picked up Reinhardt and Hana. When they arrived onboard, getting on through a secondary entrance designed to filter out water in a situation like this, the ship sped on ahead through the Mediterranean, heading north to avoid the U.N.’s presence so it could rise safely into the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack (i.e. The Music in Tracer's Head):
> 
> Love On My Mind - Freemasons
> 
> Que Veux Tu (Madeon Remix) - Yelle
> 
> Aerodynamic - Daft Punk
> 
> Phantom Part II (Boys Noise Remix) - Justice


	6. What I Did For Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Overwatch team reorganizes in Switzerland. The Junkers arrive in Africa. Ana has a plan for the next mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be perfectly honest, this chapter was kind of a drag to get through. Got some major writer's block during this, so I apologize if this isn't the most amazing thing you've ever read. There's more exciting stuff coming up, I swear!

1.

The atmosphere aboard the airship was thick enough to cut with a steak knife. Hardly anybody talked. Lena did make the most noise, but only from her occasional crying. 

With all the ideas the team had for finding a new outpost, they settled on one Angela had recommended. Near Lausanne, Switzerland.

“You still sure that spot is safe, Angela?” Jack asked.

“Last I recalled,” Angela went on to say. “Lausanne still had all the proper amenities Gibraltar had. Just not a full fledged outpost.”

“It’s practically down the street from Geneva. You sure the U.N. won’t go barging on our doors.”

“Jack, I’m sure there was one mission you told the group, ‘the last place the enemy would suspect you is at their doorstep.’” 

Jack couldn’t argue with that logic and made his way to the cockpit. “Alright Winston, take us to Lausanne.”

“Roger that,” Winston replied, maintaining cruising altitude as the ship left Mediterranean airspace and made it’s way across the European mainland.

The outpost wasn’t within the city limits of Lausanne, but rather, near Mont Pelerin, halfway between Lausanne and Montreux. The outside appearance had the look of a small Swiss chateau, but all the main things that made it an Overwatch base were buried inside the mountain. A hanger for airships, sleeping quarters, meeting rooms, medical bay, this outpost had them. It just wasn’t designed for the large party heading its way.

When the airship reached the outpost, Winston landed the ship outside the building, letting everyone get off as he flew back in the air to find the hanger. The group took a moment to admire the place and setting.

“So what do you remember about this outpost, Angela?” Jack asked.

“It has the standard Overwatch base features, just that it’s rather small,” Angela replied. “It wasn’t designed to hold sixteen guests indefinitely.”

When the team got inside, they saw Angela wasn’t lying. The faux chateau only had enough living space for eight, nine people maximum. They would have to make do with setting up arrangements in rooms meant for storage and assembly.

“Get cozy everyone,” Angela said. “We’re gonna have to get packed in tight.”

Zenyatta, Bastion, and Winston requested to stay in the laboratory while everyone else had to decide whom to share beds with. There were only two bedrooms with four each in them. Hana and Lucio immediately jumped at the chance, while Ana and Reinhardt’s request was more low-key. The other decisions were Lena and Fareeha, Aleksandra and Mei, and Genji and Angela. Jesse, Torbjorn, and Jack managed to get their own beds.

2.

Arendse walked down the same hallway he was all too familiar with. Going down to meet with the press again. The bright lights weren’t on him, yet beads of sweat still ran down his forehead. It’s just going to be the same again, he thought to himself. Try to talk about improving human-Omnic relations and our responding to terror attacks, and all they want to know is what we’re doing about Overwatch. He had done the right thing, did he? Authorizing force against the lawbreakers calling themselves Overwatch? The Petras Act was documentation he was supposed to enforce.

So why does he regret this choice?

As soon as Arendse entered the pressroom, camera flashes went off and reporters raised their ahnds, hoping to be the first one to ask a question.

“Hello, everyone,” Arendse addressed the crowd. He felt impulsive today. “Today I will be addressing any concerns you have about recent U.N. activity and the upcoming Omnic Peace Day in Numbani.”

“What do you have to say about U.N. forces attacking the former Overwatch watchpoint on Gibraltar?” the first reporter asked.

“We suspected that former Overwatch agents, who were present at Lijang Tower, had set up a base of operations there. And I don’t think you need any clarification on what the Petras Act entails.”

“Why would the U.N. do something like this?” another asked. “Attacking people that helped stop a terror attack from ending up worse?”

“Need I remind you all that the Petras Act was passed because Overwatch was becoming too much of a liability? Unneeded funds were diverted to their cause. Public opinion was against their presence. How many of you worked for papers that called for Overwatch’s dissolution when these events were happening?”

“Sir, we didn’t actively call for an attack on people doing the right thing,” a reporter in the back said.

“Well, this is the kind of thing you have to deal with. The Petras Act states they will be persecuted.”

“But no bodies were found at the site. Or any confirmed casualties.”

“Then they must’ve put up a real good fight then. Took down 12 of our airships, if our reports are accurate.” 

“Does anyone at the U.N. regret making that decision?”

Arendse took a pause before answering. “I will let you all know if that’s the case. Now, if anyone has questions about the upcoming celebrations in Numbani, that would be delightful.”

It took a few seconds longer for a reporter to take him up on the challenge. “Given the continuing Omnic attacks and terror activities, what precautions are being taken in Numbani?”

“The Shambali will have better protection from a U.N. coalition. Forces from the African nations of Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and Togo will also be present for protection.”

“Isn’t that just inviting more trouble?”

“Every precaution is being taken to ensure no violence breaks out. We will not have a warzone take over the utopia.”

3.

In their main meeting room, the Talon leaders were celebrating for the stroke of luck given to them. It wasn’t the kind of celebration with balloons and party streamers. Such would be beneath the dignity of this organization. It was mostly shaking hands congratulating themselves for a job they didn’t do and talking with a slightly more chipper tone than usual.

Meanwhile, Reaper was in Sombra’s computer room, going over plans for the next mission in Numbani. 

“Talon troops and Yakuza will be set up here, here, here, and wandering in this crowd in the square,” Sombra said, repeating the battle plans she was given. “Widowmaker and Hanzo will be stationed up on these buildings. The Junkers will march their way down this main boulevard. They are en route, right?”

“They should make landfall in a few days,” Reaper said passively, not wearing his skull mask.

“Do they suspect their ultimate part at all?”

“The two Junkers and Vishkar woman aren’t none the wiser.”

“They’re still extremely unpredictable. We can’t have this plan going off without them not knowing one little bit of info,” Sombra noticed Reaper wasn’t paying any attention to the conversation. He was either staring at the floor or the room’s walls. “Reaper, you’re not paying attention again.”

“It should’ve been me, Sombra,” Reaper exploded. “I should’ve been the one who took Gibraltar down! We would’ve managed to pull it off too if it weren’t for the damned monkey! Talon should’ve given me another chance.”

“Reaper,” Sombra replied putting her arms on his shoulders. “You’ll get your chance again. If probability means anything, Overwatch will most likely be at Numbani too during the celebrations.”

“If Morrison had shown up earlier at Lijang before the fighting was over with, I would’ve ended him.”

“Ah yes, how many times have I heard your disdain for Jack Morrison? All the times he got the glory out in the open while you were stuck in black-ops missions?”

“Vengence will be mine when I see him.”

“Where would that fit into the mission plans? I have to let the leaders know Reaper will get his vengeance!”

Elsewhere in the Talon, Hanzo is mediating in his quarters. He had plenty to reflect on in his brief time with Talon. Losing his men in the heat of battle only to have them abandoned wouldn’t sit well with their families. Plus, he was now having doubts about his arrangement. Talon had promised the Shimada clan would have Japan on a silver platter if they cooperated, participated in missions, and helped Talon’s plans in creating a new world order. Now, after seeing Talon in action and being forced to retreat, Hanzo didn’t doubt just their cause, but their capability to achieve their goals.

Still, his mind came back to Genji. If his brother could see him now, what taunts would he throw at him? What lectures about honor would the younger sibling have waiting? What did he know about honor anyway? The boy who abandoned the clan?

“You could do more to pull your weight here, archer,” a voice said. 

Hanzo broke out of his meditation to find Widowmaker in his doorway. Not in her usual skintight suit, but in sweatpants and a tank top.

“I’ve done what is asked of me,” Hanzo replied. “I can do no more than that.”

“You can do plenty more,” Widowmaker said entering Hanzo’s room. “I remember your performance back in Lijang, and it was not at all what Talon expects from their men.”

“It was my first mission. For me and my men. They performed well. Especially the ones who died.”

“You should have your men go through more training then, to improve their standards.” 

“For a week after my men go on a mission, they rest and try to find atonement with what they done.”

“If that gets in the way of anything Talon wants us to do,”

“It won’t be,” Hanzo said as he finally stood up. “It’s not the only thing I’ve been thinking about.”

Hanzo took his time collecting himself. When thinking about Talon, he most thought about the people he had to work with. Mainly, the woman present in his quarters. He had observed Widowmaker on the mission and around the headquarters. She had been very active in her work and speaking out for Talon, and that was something he could admire. But Hanzo could sense something missing. Something that robbed her of being fully human.

“I’ve been thinking about the many possibilities life has to offer us,” Hanzo went on, pacing around his quarters. “That we all have chances at redemption and saving others for the good of humanity. And those chances to save ourselves, and others, come in many forms. I though that joining Talon would help bring back honor to the Shimada clan. But seeing how things operate here, along with contemplating my own past failures, lead me to find some others who could use the same. Like a certain blue-skinned woman I know.”

Widowmaker almost came close to feeling nervous, but confused. “I don’t follow your logic.”

‘Explain this to me, Widowmaker,” Hanzo said getting closer to the woman. “How can a human with blue-skin exist? It’s one of the most unnatural things I’ve ever seen.”

“Hanzo, you are very much out of line right now.”

“I sense something inside you, like a candle still trying to burn after it’s been blown out. There’s still a scrap of humanity in you somewhere. 

“Why would I want to be human?” Widowmaker said pushing Hanzo away. She stood up and started to leave. “If I were human, I wouldn’t feel alive when killing someone.”

“The human side I see inside you. It will come out one way or another.”

4.

In a remote African Savannah, outside of Lagos, Nigeria, dead Omnic bodies are tied to wooden poles in the ground. They are due to be sacrifices to a noble cause. Not for the Omnics, but for humanity. And their cause would each come to an end in a firey explosion.

“Eh, not big enough,” Jamie said firing bombs at the Omnic targets. They were spread far apart, so each explosion from the miniature bombs was contained to it’s own target. And the savannah grass would occasionally catch fire. “Build me another one.”

Satya designed another bomb launcher for Jamie with her hard light device. This was the fourth time in a row he had a complaint about the weapons she made for him. Mako was satisfied with the first trash-spewing gun she made, but Jamie was just getting irresponsible now.

“You know Jamie,” Satya said once she finished her new weapon, “the hard light device on my prosthetic hand can only work for so long. Plus it has to be my left hand too.”

“Relax, sheila,” Jamie responded, trying out the new, sleek, polished bomb launcher, destroying two more Omnic bodies. “The Junkers have to have the perfect weapons, and we can’t rely on Talon for that now.”

“Wait, aren’t they bringing their own weapons?”

“Of course they are, but I told them since we’re working with an Indian sheila who can give us all new homes, we might as well see what shiny weapons she can make too.”

“Jamie, I never intended to become a weapons factory. If we stay with Talon much longer, that’s probably what I’ll end up being.”

Jamie stopped firing bombs at his targets, much to the relief of the dead Omnics if they could still feel. He got close to Satya.

“Satya, it’s like we said. We’re going to take down Talon and end this. As soon as our,”

Jamie cut himself off when he heard a rumbling. Mainly the sound of fast heavy metal guitars. In the distance downhill, Jamie saw a caravan of rusty trucks and muscle cars.

“Friends are here!” Jamie finished his thought, running towards Mako.

Satya had dreaded this part. While she had grown somewhat attached to the two crazy Australians, mainly because of the plan they hatched together, she worried what a whole army of Jamie’s and Mako’s would do.

“Mako, hurry before they miss us!” Jamie yelled as he ran downhill waving his arms. “Junkers! Junkers! Over here!”

The convoy stopped under a Vachellia tree, with hooting coming from a dump truck with people covered in dirt and tattered clothes carrying guns in the back.

“Junkrat! Junkrat!” they shouted as Jamie approached them and everyone bailed out of their vehicles to surround him.

“G’day friends!” Jamie shouted. “How was the trip?”

“We’ve been sailing for weeks, you little shit!” one of the guys, simply named Roadman, said. “You know how hard it is to learn how to steer a stolen ship while going through cyclones? We almost got caught near Cape Town.”

“Calm down, Roadman, you’re in good hands now.”

“Junkrat!” a woman by the name of Stomper shouted, storming up to him. She slaps him in the face. “You twat. Why couldn’t we take one of those fancy airships you rode on?”

“Lovely to see you too, Stomper,” Junkrat said, covering his slap mark.

“This deal you got better be worth it.”

“Oh it is Stomper. And here’s our meal ticket now.”

Satya arrived from walking down the hill to the convoy, as the junkers all stared at this Indian woman in blue. She felt the same initial uncomfortableness from when she first met Jamie and Mako. With such a massive crowd before, she did wonder how they managed to sail across the Indian Ocean and around Africa without getting caught.

“Everybody,” Jamie proclaimed as he introduced the woman. “This is Satya. You can just call her Symmetra. Show them what you can do.”

Satya became nervous on the spot, not thinking of what to make for these hooligans. Think, damnit, think. What can these people understand?

Then an idea hit her and Satya started working. The light from her prosthetic hand spread out across the grass as the junkers backed away to let her work. It was a complicated design, one she wasn’t sure if she remembered all the parts. But she pressed on, seeing it as the best way to win their trust.

The design began to take shape. Junkers took turns trying to guess what it was. There was a chassis, anti-gravity devices, a motor, and a shiny metallic frame. Finally, the parts gave way to a small metallic plastic-looking dune buggy. 

“Anyone care to try it out?” Satya asked.

Mako got inside and turned on the ignition. He sped away as fast as the buggy could manage, kicking up plenty of dust as he went further downhill and made some figure-8’s. The Junkers sang their praises to Satya for making something that worked.

“Huh Satya,” Jamie said. “I would not have pegged you for a road racing kind of girl.”

“It’s something I remembered from my childhood,” Satya replied. “Just rampant curiosity about how machines worked.”

Satya noticed how close her and Jamie were standing to each other, and he was looking right at her face. Satya didn’t return the favor, but secretly like being admired. Stomper walked by to break the tension.

“Hey, you two gonna shag or what? Let’s roll out!”

“Right then,” Jamie said turning himself away from Satya towards the crowd. “Move out everybody! It’s onto Numbani for us!”

The Junkers shouted out various battle cries as they loaded back up into their vehicles. Jamie pulled Satya by her wrist to one of the dump trucks, loading her and himself on. 

“Jamie,” Satya asked once they were inside. “We do have a plan once we get there, right?”

“Yeah sheila. We hit Talon with all the firepower we have!”

“That’s it? You know you can’t just blow up an entire city when celebrations will be going on.”

“Satya, this is our strategy for every mission. Just like a cricket match. While you Indians are worried about making fancy trickshots, we Australians just go for raw power as we hit sixes every time.”

Satya knew he was playing to an old Indian stereotype about all Indians loving cricket, but she’d like to imagine that he knew how much she loved the sport. Maybe another time, she thought to herself.

5\. 

With the team finally settled down in their hideout, Jack decided to take some teammates on a trip for a history lesson. If these people truly wanted to be part of an organization to maintain world peace, they should know what they’re fighting for and how not to tear themselves apart.

The party was made up of Angela, Ana, Reinhardt, Lena, Hana, Lucio, Aleksandra, Mei, Fareeha and McCree. Winston, Torbjorn, Genji, Bastion, and Zenyatta opted to stay behind because the hideout needed some protection.

Hana did another of her livestreams on the train, criticizing the food onboard and vaguely talking about what happened on Gibraltar. She also tried to get the other teammates in on the show, sitting next to Lucio the whole way, with Lena and Fareeha across from them. Mei and Aleksandra sat together talking about how the snow in Switzerland was nothing compared to Russia or Antarctica. McCree wandered around the train, mostly hanging out at the snack bar. Angela was talking to everyone about her childhood in Zurich, the best places to see and eat, and the crazy things she got up to in Swiss medical school.

Jack was just looking out the window for most of the ride, taking in the mountainous scenery on the way. He used to see sights like this everyday he reported to the Swiss headquarters. All the little villages, chateaus, and mountaintops brought back memories of the missions he was sent out on. The wars, the peace control, the assassinations. Tasks that gave him purpose in life. Reyes popped up in his head too. How the mission was now one against his old friend. 

“You still sure you want to do this Jack?” Ana said, sitting across from him next to Reinhardt and leaning on his right side.

“The team needs to know what happened there,” Jack replied, still looking out the window. “The vets need to know the whole truth.”

“What truth is there to know?” Reinhardt said. “We know you and Gabriel blew the place up over your petty feud.” 

“Reinhardt,” Jack said, turning to face the two comrades. “It was never just a petty feud. Reyes was working to turn Overwatch into what it wasn’t meant to be.”

“Overwatch did that on it’s own, Jack,” Ana replied. “We were getting too involved in matters that weren’t our business. Why do you think the public turned against us?”

Jack went back to looking out the window. “Sometimes I just wish things can do back to how they were.”

“Aye Jack, same here,” Reinhardt said. “Hopefully our work can make that happen.” 

“Meine Damen und Herren, ist der Zug ankommt jetzt in Zurich. Ladies and Gentlemen, the train is now arriving in Zurich.” the overhead announcer said as the train reached the main station.

“Guess this is our stop,” Jack said as he stood up, addressing the rest of the group. “Alright everyone, we get off here. Just follow me and Angela.”

The team stepped off their train and transferred to a commuter line. They ended up in the district of Friesenberg, where they walked the rest of the way once they made their stop. Where Overwatch’s Swiss headquarters formerly stood, a museum stood on the remains. The only original structure of the base was the basement, and even that needed modern building materials to maintain it’s past form.

The museum was essentially a recreation of how the base would’ve looked in the heyday of Overwatch. The meeting rooms had a fine coat of paint. The 15-year-old monitors around the facility were working perfectly. The sleeping quarters were held in perfect upkeep. Holograms of past Overwatch members narrated the tour, talking about major events that happened in the rooms and the people who spent time here.

The basement, when the tour did reach that point, was left the same after the explosion. The charred remains of the old base were still here. The holograms said this part was not restored because the people in charge of restoration wanted to maintain truly historic accuracy of the event that ended Overwatch. 

As the group reached this point, Jack couldn’t take anymore. He just walked back out the way he came. Fast, but not so much as to draw attention from the other tourists. Ana and Reinhardt could see something was wrong and followed him. They found Jack standing outside, leaning against a stone fence looking out on the city.

“Jack,” Reinhardt said. “You holding up?”

Jack had some tears in his eyes when he faced the two others. “It’s just a bit overwhelming, being back here. Seeing this place restored.”

“Why don’t you come back inside and finish up?” Ana asked. 

“It’s just, knowing what really happened here and not the sugar-coated reasons those holograms gave, it just makes me wonder what it was all for.”

“Jack, you don’t have to answer, but I think this is something we need to know. Which of you destroyed the base?”

Jack didn’t answer right away, since this was something he hadn’t thought about in detail for years.

“I don’t remember. We were shooting at each other so much we lost track of where we were aiming. I will have Gabriel’s head on a silver platter for everything he’s done.”

“We’ve seen the way Gabriel fights now, Jack. He can just fade into a puff of smoke. How can you kill a man that can do that?”

“We’ve figured out ways of getting out of worse, Ana. I’m sure we can figure out a way here.”

The rest of Overwatch team came outside, having finished the tour and went through the gift shop. Hana and Lucio were the only ones carrying bags.

“Jack,” Angela said. “We’re all done here. How about we all go find a place to eat in town?” 

Jack took a second to admire the team of new and old members. “Yeah Angela. Sounds great.”

6\. 

Since Zenyatta, Genji, and Bastion weren’t among the group going to Zurich, they did get some extra meditation time in to focus on the upcoming struggles. The team was preparing to head out to Numbani for the Omnic Peace day, and Winston suspects Talon will have something planned for the occasion. Zenyatta is looking forward to the mission, since he will be reunited with his Shambali brothers, who are integral to the celebration. 

“Zenyatta,” Winston said walking into the room. “Are you busy?”

Zenyatta broke out of his trance. “What is it, Winston?”

“There were some part of our plans for Numbani I want to make sure you’re fine with.”

“Of course Winston. What are your concerns?”

“You know you and the other monks in attendance will be prime targets for any attackers, correct?”

“I do. But it’s something the Shambali have dealt with for years. We understand that not all humans can comprehend what we have to offer.”

“And your two compatriots. They know the risks?”

Genji and Bastion were still deep in meditation, unaware of the conversation.

“Bastion, Genji,” Zenyatta commanded. “Winston has some things to ask you.”

Genji and Bastion broke their concentration and became aware of their surroundings.

“Yes Winston,” Genji asked. “What is it you want?”

“I was going over with Zenyatta the risks associated with being in Numbani.”

“I’ve been to Numbani before on my travels. It’s a peaceful place of harmony between man and machine. I have no concerns with being there.”

“Given the high tensions right now, you three should be vary of attacks from more than Talon.”

“I’ve tried not to engage in physical combat since I’ve known Zenyatta. But that doesn’t mean I’m not prepared for the eventuality.”

“What about Bastion?” The three non-humans turned towards the Bastion unit, still sitting on the ground. It’s head swiveled between the three of them, slowly then faster. “These units were on the front lines for the Omnics. People publicly dismantled them when the crisis ended. How will humans react when they see him?”

“Wheeep booop doo do liddle ooom,” Bastion beeped.

“Bastion only attacks in self-defense, like any other Omnic,” Zenyatta said. “He told me when he was reactivated, it was in the middle of a forest. His war programming wanted to kill wildlife and attack a nearby city. But he couldn’t. He remembers having to fight in the war and that scares him. He has no desire to harm life now. We can only hope regular people will understand.”

“Woooop de boo bom doop,” Bastion beeped.

“Bastion is fine with whatever you ask him, and he’s excited about seeing a place where all walks of life are respected.”

Winston was satisfied with their responses. “Alright then. If you wouldn’t mind, I’m going to call everyone to the meeting room to go our final plans before heading out.”

At the meeting, everyone tried cramming into the small meeting room. There weren’t enough chairs for everyone, so six members had to stand in the back. 

“Okay everyone,” Winston started out. “Let’s go over our final plans.” He pulled up a map of downtown Numbani on a screen behind him. “Zenyatta has no problem being a public figure, but Genji and Bastion will provide immediate protection for him. For the most part, they will be out in the open with the other Shambali monks. If my theory about Talon is correct, they’ll be there just to stir up more discord between humans and Omnics. We will run a similar plan as last time. Lena, Lucio, Fareeha, Hana, Mei, Aleksandra, Angela and Jack will be out wandering in the crowd, our first line of attack.”

“Woah Winston,” Aleksandra interrupted. “I did not sign up to go around defenseless in the Omnic city.”

“Aleksandra,” Winston said with a disgruntled tone. “We’ve been over this. You have to be prepared to handle any situation.”

“But I’ll be surrounded by Omnics that can turn and shoot whatever moves in that city at any time.”

“That’s the risk we have to take, Aleksandra! Do you have any better plans?”

Aleksandra went quiet, sulking back into her chair.

“Moving on, Ana and McCree will be looking out from these buildings here. Reinhardt, Torbjorn and I will be waiting back on the ship in case things do go really south. If anything does happen, you all know what to do. Are we all in agreement?”

A unclear group of yeses and murmurs come from the group.

“Is there anything anyone would like to add?” Winston asked. Ana was the only one to raise her hand.

“I believe Ana wants to say something,” Winston said as he let Ana step forward in front of the group. She cleared her throat before she began talking.

“This is something that’s been on my mind for a long time. As you are all aware, one of Talon’s most prized assets is Widowmaker. The woman formerly known as Ameile Lacroix. Some say she’s the best in the world. Heavy emphasis on some. Whenever a high profile target needs to be taken out, Widowmaker is there. I don’t need to remind you what she did to Mondatta, to me, to Overwatch itself. Of course, the thought occurred to me how ineffectual Talon would end up being if Widowmaker no longer existed.”

“You can say that about any soldier in an army,” Jack retorted.

“Widowmaker isn’t any soldier. She’s their perfect creation. Designed to be the perfect weapon.”

“So you just want to get your revenge on her?” Reinhardt asked. 

“On the contrary. I don’t want to take her out. I want to save her. To bring her back to us.”

Before Ana even finished, the group reacted very negatively, shouting their complaints.

“It’s impossible!” Torbjorn shouted. “The bitch killed many of our good men.”

“Ami, how could you think of such a thing,” Fareeha said. “She’s why you faked your death.”

“I’m certainly not working with her,” Lena said. “Not after the nightmare she gave me.”

“Listen, listen, all of you,” Ana said as she tried to calm the rest down. “This will have nothing to do with your roles in the mission. This is something I want to handle on my own.”

“But Ana,” Reinhardt said. “You can’t possibly do something like this on your own. She’ll kill you again.” 

“I don’t know how well you remember Ameile, but she was no doubt one of us. She wasn’t a regular field agent like Gerard. She wasn’t a scientist. Yet she was someone we loved having around. She was dedicated to our cause. I just know that whatever Talon did inside her head, it can be undone.”

“What if we can’t turn her back?” Angela asks.

“You’re one of the finest doctors in the world. I’m sure you can come up with something. If all else fails, then the team has my permission to kill her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack:
> 
> The Trooper - Iron Maiden
> 
> Release the Bats - The Birthday Party
> 
> What I Did for Love - David Guetta ft. Emily Sande


	7. Kings of the Wild Frontier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A major battle on the streets of Numbani.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't like any of the other ones in this story. There are no subsections. It's all one big action set piece in Numbani, where all the major characters are present. I'm really proud of this chapter compared to the last one, though I must warn you it still jumps around so everyone has a chance to shine.

Numbani is a miracle of a city. Rising out of the Nigerian savannah not far from the border with Cameroon, it was built after the first Omnic crisis as a symbol of how humans and Omnics could co-exist in harmony in the brave new world ahead of them. 

And once a year, it’s the center of a worldwide celebration known as Omnic Peace Day.

Started as a way to commemorate the end of the first crisis, Omnic Peace Day, the public was initially hesitant as first given that the holiday celebrates harmony with an enemy who was never truly defeated. But as the years went by, both sides embraced what the holiday means and looked forwards to it when it was right around the corner.

Numbani never took this day lightly. The citizens decorated the whole city and prepared for the arrival for thousands of tourists to crowd their streets. It was their most important public holiday and they made the world know it.

The Talon airships made care not to drop off their soldiers in the city limits, except for Widowmaker. None of the troops wore the traditional black garb of Talon troops. They wore normal pedestrian clothes with concealed weapons. Only Hanzo’s yakuza men wore their uniforms, which were black suits with skinny ties. Reaper still wore his robes and mask, at his insistence. His argument was that he could just teleport inside the city when needed, so he didn’t need to march in with the rest. Sombra waited on one of the ships. 

The Overwatch ship made several drop-off points. As per the plan, Ana and Jesse got off on a rooftop and split up. The rest of the team got off in groups of three at the city limits. Lena Lucio and Hana got off together, Jack Angela and Fareeha at another point, Genji Zenyatta and Bastion made their way together, and Aleksandra and Mei being the only group of two. Winston parked the ship on an abandoned rooftop, with him, Reinahrdt, and Torbjorn waiting for any distress calls.

“These humans don’t know what’s good for them,” Aleksandra complained walking along with Mei, carrying their weapons in heavy bags. “How can these humans walk around with no fear in their hearts?”

“Aleksandra,” Mei said to try and calm her down. “Not everyone comes from a war-torn village. Plus, they do want do live here. It’s an important statement to do so.”

“How about I make a bet with you, Mei? I’ll ask the first person I see where they’re from and if they’re distrustful of the Omnics around him. If they are, you have to give me a kiss.”

“And what if they’re not?” Mei said, hesitant to take Aleksandra up on this offer.

“Then, . . I won’t complain about the Omnics any more on this mission.”

“Alright, you have a bet. How about that one?”

Mei did point to the first person she saw, a slightly dark skinned woman in a group of other similarly colored women. Aleksandra walked over sure of herself.

“Excuse me, miss?” Aleksandra asked. “You mind me asking you where you’re from?”

“Oh no, no problem at all,” the woman responded. “I’m from Italy.”

“And what do you think of Omnics in general?”

“Well I’m married to one, so I don’t think they’re all bad. Oh hey honey.”

The woman ran over to an Omnic walking up towards the group. She kissed the robot on it’s equivalent of a human mouth. Aleksandra was left dumbfounded.

“Well,” Mei said with some pep walking towards and past the burley Russian. “I don’t expect another peep out of you.”

Lena, Lucio, and Hana were making their way to their point on the right side of the crowd. Lucio and Hana were holding hands

“Have either of you been here before?” Lena asked the couple.

“I did some shows here a while back,” Lucio said.

“I haven’t” Hana replied. “Lucio here promised to take me here if he ever got a break in gigs!”

“The people love me, Hana. Who am I to deny them my presence and music?”

“I love you too babe, but you don’t hear me going on about how I need you every second of the day.”

“I’ve only been here once,” Lena interjected hoping to keep the argument from escalating further. “Back in the old days of Overwatch, I had a mission here. Some terrorists were trying to blow up a bank. I succeeded, but I just remember being in awe. Not of the fancy buildings, you can find those anywhere. It was more about the people. This land was once nothing but barren savannah. And the African people were considered very backwards to the rest of the world. It just amazed me how here, of all places, human and Omnic could learn to put aside their differences and just live.”

Widowmaker made her way across the rooftops, careful to avoid any of the bright lights coming from street level. She was aware of the pressure put on her to deliver some kills. But she took her time staying in the shadows. She also made a mental note to herself to come back here on her free time to try to steal the Doomfist Gauntlet which eluded her before.

She also sang to herself while on her journey. 

“Les vieux ne parlent plus, ou alors seulement parfois du bout des yeux. Meme riches ils sont pauvres, ils n’ont plus d’illusions et n’ont qu’un coeur pour deux.”

Even though Widowmaker did make the effort to move solely through whatever shadows she could find, she did occasionally look down at the street. Either taking a second to look over a ledge, or looking below whenever she grapple-hooked between two buildings. 

“Qui ronronne au salon, qui dit oui, qui dit non, qui dit je vous attends?”

Widowmaker’s thoughts started to wander again. While these instances before were a spat of different events and places she had a hard time making out, this time, it was of one singular event. She walked through the streets of Paris with the man she couldn’t put a name to. They had just finished a big meal and wandered around the streets, mainly in the 8th arrondissement. The two walked by the Paris Opera, the Grand Palais, and ended up at the Arc de Triomphe. After making a full lap around the Arc, the two stopped on the Avenue de Champs Elysees. It was there the man asked Widowmaker if she would marry him.

Married? Widowmaker thought to herself. Why would I get married? When I’m back at base, I need to ask Talon doctors about these visions.

“Le petit chat est mort, le muscat du dimanche ne les fait plus chanter.”

Widowmaker finally reached her destination, a building by the city square at the heart of the celebrations. There was one soldier on the rooftop. Nothing Widowmaker couldn’t take care of with one neck break.

“Reaper, I’m in position,” Widowmaker said into her earpiece. 

“Good, the other units are moving into theirs. Just hang tight.”

Widowmaker kept singing to herself. “Ils se tiennent la main, ils ont peur de se perdre, et se perdent pourtant.”

Hanzo took his men into an old building not made out of glass. He didn’t want his troops to be out on the front lines when the attack started, as to avoid any more distress for their families. Hanzo made his way up to the roof and observed what was happening below.

Jack, Angela, and Fareeha walked slowly to their point, walking past unsuspecting pedestrians wanting no more than to enjoy themselves.

“You nervous, Jack?” Angela asked, sensing some unpleasantness in his visor covered eyes.

“Only on these kinds of missions, where there’s a lot of people around,” Jack said as he saw a group of kids banging African drums and dancing. “I’m just worried what Gabe has planned.”

“We’ll find out soon enough,” Fareeha said, with her nerves crawling too.

Zenyatta, Genji, and Bastion made their way to the main platform for speakers. Some of the other Shambali monks were there talking with an Omnic wearing a tuxedo and carried an aura of greater authority than the monks could muster.

‘Zenyatta,” Reggatta said once he saw him. “So happy you could join us.”

“Please Reggatta,” Zenyatta responded. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

“Zenyatta,” the tuxedo-clad Omnic spoke, “I trust that you remember me?”

“Synchronmaba, how could I forget? You’ve done all Omnics proud with your work.”

“I trust that you have something prepared for when I ask you to speak?”

“Of course I do. I also brought some of my students along with me. Please meet Genji Shimada and Bastion.”

Synchronmaba looked over Genji and took a few seconds to look over Bastion, seeing if it was a proper Bastion unit. Bastion just rotated his head around following where Synchronmaba went. 

“I just can’t believe one of these still exists,” Synchronmaba said in disbelief. “How did you get him here safely?”

“Genji and some other friends I travelled with provided adequate protection.”

“Well they must be miracle workers then. I hope that the human’s feelings have changed about him once he’s brought out.”

“And now, humans and Omnics,” an overhead announcer said on various speakers throughout the city. “Please welcome to the stage, the mayor of Numbani, Synchronmaba.”

Synchromaba, Zenyatta, Genji, Bastion, and the other Omnics made their way onto the stage and took their seats, flanked by various banners of Numbani and Omnic Peace Day. Synchonmaba was greeted with applause from the human/Omnic mass as he took to the podium.

“Hello one and all,” Synchronmaba started off his speech with. “For our many guests in attendance tonight, my name is Synchronmaba and I am the mayor of Numbani. I’d first like to say, to Omnics out there fighting for your survival at this moment, I know what how hard it is. I saw the horrors of the first crisis firsthand when I was a soldier in the Omnic armies. I fought in the South American countries of Brazil and Argentina. The loss of life in Buenos Aires alone shook me to my core processors even when I was still programmed for war. So when the crisis ended and Omnic programming entered its new self-aware state, I pledged to see that Omnics were given their fair share in society alongside their human creators. That’s what led me to Numbani. For this city is the future of life on Earth. Not what some people in England, Russia, or Australia who have never lived the Omnic life say. I quote the great late Shambali monk Tekhartha Mondatta. ‘Humans, Omnics, we are all one in the Iris.’ Let us continue the work to make that vision come true!”

The crowd becomes engulfed in applause. The same could be said for the Overwatch members in the crowd. Lena clapped her hands fast and hard. Aleksandra was the only one unmoved by the speech.

Widowmaker had her scope aimed right at Synchonmaba’s head. How sweet it would be if she were allowed to pull the trigger right now.

“And now,” Synchonmaba said to the crowd, “I’d like to introduce a close compatriot of Mondatta’s. Tekhartha Zenyatta.”

Zenyatta made his way up to the podium greeted with rapturous applause from the crowd.

“Greetings citizens on Numbani,” Zenyatta started off with. “It’s my pleasure to be addressing you so. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that not only are we here to celebrate the harmony that can come out of human and Omnic living side-by-side, we are also here to honor the life of my Shambali brother, Mondatta. My travels with him and on my own showed me very different sides of the world we live in. Not just places like Numbani, but people themselves can have both man and machine inside them and achieve goodness. With that in mind, I’d like to introduce two of my brightest pupils. First is Genji Shimada.”

Genji stood up and walked across the stage, giving a display of his ninja skills.

“Genji represents a perfect union between man and machine. He was left for dead at the hands of his family members, but thanks to the work of Dr. Angela Ziegler, he survived in this metal form. And thanks to my spiritual training, he truly embraced both sides of himself.”

Genji returned to his seat after a round of applause. 

“The next guest I’d like to introduce is a war veteran, possibly the last of his kind. Please welcome, Bastion!”

Bastion got up and made his way across the stage, but the humans of the crowd reacted with fear while the Omnics were fascinated.

“This Bastion unit was designed to be one of the main forces on the battlefield during the first crisis. When it ended, he was abandoned in the middle of a forest. It was there, upon his reactivation, that he no longer felt the need to commit such heinous acts of violence. All he wanted is to feel at one with nature He’s a model example for what Omnics can achieve in our struggle to find inner peace.”

“Wooo wop moooow chlooop,” Bastion beeped with another round of applause following. 

Suddenly, a rumbling could be heard in the distance. The sounds of hard drums accompanied by hollering and yelling were coming closer and closer to the city square. People were fleeing down other streets and pathways from the source. The convoy of Junkers had arrived.

Mako led the pack in his dune buggy, flanked by motorcycles. Jamie stood on the hood of one of the dump trucks, waving around his grenade launcher and making faces at the surrounding crowd. Satya sat in the dump bed with others looking at what an ass Jamie was making of himself. Making a devilish smile. Pretending to fire grenades into the bystanders. Gesticulating his crotch. While she should have found it as repulsive along with all the other onlookers, she found this display of madness oddly charming. And a little bit sexy too. 

“I feel underneath the white, there is a redskin suffering, from centuries of taming,” Jamie sang along to the song blasting out of the trucks.

“I don’t think song is about what he think it’s about,” Lucio remarked as the teams looked on.

Jamie pulled out a push-button switch and pressed it, activating a concussion bomb sending him a few meters up into the air. As he came down, he did land on his face on the stage. But as he stood up, Jamie made a “ta-da” gesture to the crowd that suggested he meant to do that. Satya and the junkers filed out into the crowd.

“Alright Omnic,” Jamie said making his way to Zenyatta, “you’re going to give me and my friends here the chance to speak.”

“I will not be moved by the likes you, you dirty, dirty man,” Zenyatta retorted.

“Oh, you’re going to,” Jamie said pulling out the same push-button switch, “or I’m gonna blow you and this crowd sky high!”

“Master, let me take care of this ingrate,” Genji said ready to pull out his sword.

“No Genji. We can’t risk harming the people. Stand down.” 

Genji simply respected his master’s wishes, but he would still rather slice Jamie’s head off.

“Much obliged, mate,” Jamie said. He grab the microphone Zenyatta was using to talk and started walking around.

“Now you all may recognized this lovely face from the papers, the telly, or just about whatever people use to tell you Australia is a giant hellhole. You probably know me as Junkrat. But here, tonight, I come to you not as someone who wants to steal your jewelry, or blow your homes up. No, I’m here to make a confession. For you see, over the past few weeks, I’ve been part of Talon with my boy Roadhog, along with this sweet Indian sheila. And truth be told, I was looking forward to it. But something better came along. I found Talon’s dirty little secret, something much more dangerous to the world than their firepower. All I can say is to all the Omnics out there, you’re under their control!”

The crowd was dumbfounded. How could this man say something like that? And on today, where humans and Omnics are supposed to work to make a better world? The junkers were hollering along with their leader. Their time to shine.

“And as we humans all know, there’s only one way to make sure an Omnic isn’t dangerous. To destroy them!” 

Satya was puzzled at what was happening. Not just at how Jamie planned to go after the Omnics instead of Talon, but with all the Talon troops that should be in the crowd, they let him talk on revealing their plans for this long. Her thoughts turned to how the Junkers managed to cross the oceans and only have one major confrontation with opposing forces. And why Jamie and Mako were left behind on the mission in Lijang. And how she was able to find the videos detailing the God program so easily.

“Jamie!” Satya shouted as she got out of the truck and ran to the stage once she realized what was going to happen. “We have to get out of here! All of us! It’s a set up!”

Jamie didn’t pay any mind to Satya. He just walked back over to the group of Omnics on stage. 

“I’m so sorry for leading you bots on,” Jamie said. “I already used this switch. It’s can’t do anything now. The real bomb should be coming right,”

Jamie had expected a small car coming their way to blow up however many Omnics were in the square. Instead, as he peered down the main boulevard, he saw one of the large spare trucks of the convoy on fire, speeding towards him.

“Now?”

Jamie regretting not heeding what Satya had to say.

“Get out of the way!” Jamie shouted as the beings on the stage leaped off and collapsed on the ground. The rest of the junkers dispersed as fast as they can, but some cars were still hit by the rampaging truck, which crashed through the stage and into the building behind it, causing the fire to spread further.

“Alright,” Sombra said back from her location on a Talon ship. “Everybody move in. I’m activating the God program.”

With a simple sequence entry on her keyboard, Sombra turned the program on. With a few more keyboard clicks, some of the Omnics who were looking on at the fiery wreckage moved towards it. The Junkers started taking their weapons and using them, while the Omnics started throwing punches at the ragged, dirty people.

People in the crowd tried to hold the Omnics who wanted to fight back, going so much as to forcibly push them down towards the roads beneath them to stop the violence from getting further out of hand. The junkers slowed their ammo dispensing down and a standoff occurred. 

A cloud of purple smoke started to form on the spot of the truck Jamie was standing on. It drew the attention of the junkers, Omnics, and normal people. Slowly the smoke formed into the shape of a man, then robes, then body armor, then shotguns, and lastly, a skull mask.

“Death awaits you all!” Reaper exclaimed. 

The Talon men made themselves known by pulling out their guns and started shooting in the crowd. It didn’t matter who their bullets hit. Omnic, human, or junker, their task was to create chaos, and they achieved it perfectly. The military guards present were more concerned with getting people to safety than shooting back. But even when they did, they found themselves overpowered, unable to contain the growing mayhem.

With the crowds running off in a panic, the Overwatch members burst into action. Reinhardt and Winston left the ship, making their way from rooftop to rooftop to get to the center of the action. Jack adorned his visor. Angela turned her Valkyrie suit online. Lena, Lucio, and Hana pulled out their guns. Aleksandra and Mei pulled out their weapons out of some bags Aleksandra was carrying. With these armaments, they started to press the attack back, although that made it spread further into the city. 

“Team, Winston and Reinhardt are on their way” Torbjorn said typing into the ship’s keyboard. “Time to put my new creations into action.”

Flying over the sky into the growing warzone, Hana’s rebuilt mech and the Raporta suit flew out of the airship and to their owners. Both got inside their suits of armor to properly join the fight.

Winston and Reinhardt landed with a growing crowd of bystanders running against them. Some junkers were running up towards, but stopped when they saw the gorilla and knightly armor. The look on their faces suggested it would be a lovely challenge.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be your shield,” Reinhardt said deploying his shield to protect those running away.

“Reinhardt, I hope that shield of yours is powerful enough,” Winston said before growling, having his fur turn red, and sparks of lightning come out from his eyes. He leaped into the group of junkers and knocked them all into standing cars and lightposts with his primal strength.

“Jesus, monkey,” Reinhardt said still behind his barrier. “You should get angry more often.”

Back by the stage, Zenyatta, Bastion, and the other Omnic leaders initially hid in a building closeby, but had to move on because the fire was spreading. Jamie, Satya, and Mako were still there, firing at whoever seemed threatening coming their way. Satya created temporary barriers to protect themselves.

“What I want to know is who did that?” Junkrat shouted out, launching grenades aimlessly. “Who set that truck on fire? Whoever did that is dead meat when we get out of here.”

“Jamie, none of your men did it,” Satya said firing blue energy balls from her photon projector, like Jamie, without much care about her aim. “It was Talon all along.”

“What do you mean all along?” Jamie and Satya ducked behind some fresh Junker corpses.

“They wanted us to find the God program. And I mean only us. Because in all honesty, not to say anything bad about you, but if a Junker came up to a normal person and said that the Omnics were all under someone’s control and need to be destroyed, would you really believe that?”

“But they are, see?” Jamie pulled Satya’s head up to get a good look at the ever-growing madness engulfing Numbani. “Some of them have the red lights on their, what?”

Jamie remembered too well from his Australia Liberation Front days that Omnic heads gave off a red light when in war mode. But none of them, either attacking or defending, gave it off.

“No red lights. None of the attacking Omnics have red lights!”

“It must be part of the program,” Satya said, ducking her head back behind the corpses. “Talon must have figured out a way to mask that. I didn’t see any Talon uniforms either. Considering you’re the one who made that stupid threat, where will all the blame for this go to when this is all over?”

“So we were hired just to be their fall guys?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“What about all that tech you promised us? Was that a lie?”

Satya didn’t know what came over her. Either it was the heat of battle or she felt sorry for Jamie, but she threw her hands around his head and pulled it in for a kiss. Jamie was certainly surprised, briefly forgetting he was in the middle of a war zone.

“Jamie,” Satya said when she finished. “If we manage to get out of here alive, I will personally design a whole city for you and the remaining junkers.”

“Well then,” Jamie said, still flustered. “Sounds like a good deal, but we need to get moving now. The junkers are way out of their league here.”

Satya looked back up to get a look at the surroundings. She saw Lucio speeding by, firing his sonic gun at some crowd members with guns and rouge Omnics before making a left turn.

“Get Mako,” Satya said. “I know where to go.”

“Alright then Satya. How about another one for the road?” Junkrat said puckering his lips.

Satya decided to humor him with another kiss, a decidedly more passionate one. “Don’t push your luck too far, Mr. Fawkes.” 

“Roadie! Get in your car! We’re moving out!” 

Mako had just finished going whole hog on a group of humans trying to overwhelm him as he heard Jamie’s shout. He ran over to the buggy he drove in on and started it up. Satya created two more seats for her and Jamie to sit on with her hard light device, squeezed in tight between Mako’s seat and the engine nestled in the back.

“So where are we going?” Jamie asked.

“We’re following the black man in green roller states,” Satya responded. “I dealt with him in the past. He has to be here with some friends. Maybe they can help us.”

“I sure hope you know what you’re talking about,” Jamie said before turning his attention to the Junkers. “Everybody else, retreat back to our rendezvous point. We’ll catch up with you later. And try to make it out in one piece.” The three then drove off into the streets, leaving the junkers behind. 

Genji had separated himself from his master and plunged headfirst into fray, eager for a chance to fight after so many years. He did recognize some of the faces he fought against. From their suits and skinny ties, the Japnese in the pandimonium had to have been yakuza men. They were all coming out of the same building, so Genji ran over slicing whatever yakuza he could find. Arrows also rained down on Genji as he looked upward. He saw Hanzo at the top, with an arrow knocked and ready to release.

“Ryu ga wage teki o kurau!” Hanzo exclaimed, shooting an arrow down at Genji, circled by two lights shaped like giant blue dragons.

“Ryujin no ken wo kuare!” Genji shouted as a dragon-shaped green light started encircling his blade. He jumped high onto one of the blue dragons, running along it’s back upward, slicing the dragons. When he reached the top, Genji and Hanzo engaged in a hand-to-hand fight, Genji’s sword vs. Hanzo’s bow. 

“Hanzo, why are doing this?” Genji asked trying to maintain pressure on him.

“This is for the good of the clan, Genji,” Hanzo said trying to fight back. “That’s not anything you would know about.”

“All this senseless destruction happening around us. Do you want to be remembered as someone who took part?”

“I will be remembered as a Shimada.”

“I want you to be remembered as a good human being.”

Hanzo managed to get the upper hand and pushed Genji off the roof with his bow. 

“It’s a shame, brother. I thought I could convince you this time.”

Genji accepted what was going to happen to him once he landed. Even with the metallic armor he had on, he had no idea if that would be enough protection to survive the fall. Then he felt his fall being broken before he hit the ground, landing in the arms of his guardian angel.

“Genji, are you alright?” Angela asked landing on the ground.

“You saved my life once again, Dr. Ziegler,” Genji said as Angela put him on his feet, admiring the golden wings on her Valkyrie suit.

“I have to help people reach safety. Get back in the fight,” Angela said as she flew off.

On her perch, Ana was getting some shots off at whatever Talon agents she could identify. She also loaded her biotic darts into her rifle, shooting a healing agent into her allies and any wounded citizens. She also scoped around other buildings, seeing if there were any other snipers around. 

Then some bullets and crack sounds ricocheted off the ledges surrounding Ana. Her first instinct was to hide behind the ledge, breathing heavily as the bullets just missed her. After waiting a few seconds, but what must have seemed like 30, she took a glance over the ledge, seeing on the flat surface, a small angled red circle. Ana took her rifle out and looked in the direction the circle came from, three buildings down across the boulevard, closer to the square. She saw a sniper aim her rifle right at her, with 7 infrared lenses covering her eyes and simply waving to her.

Ana ducked back for cover again. Ameile, she thought. She knows I’m here. And she’s toying with me. 

“Team,” Ana said into her earpiece. “I see Ameile. She’s a few buildings over across the way from where I am. I’m going after her.”

Lena responded to that message immediately. “Ana, you can’t. You’re a sitting duck up there. Let me go after her.”

“No Lena! You’ll stick to the plan. I can make my own way over there.” Ana stopped talking and started putting her rifle away, preparing to move on.

Lena looked above her, trying to guess which building Widowmaker was based out of. For one split second, she saw the barrel of Widowmaker’s rifle pass over the edge of a tall building near her. That was all the motivation she needed to blink through the front door and up the many flights of stairs.

Widowmaker fired more shots into the crowd, not caring if she hit an Omnic, human, or junker. Just so much as she gets the thrill of the kill. 

“Hey love, got any more mopey songs for me?” Widowmaker heard the voice of Lena say. She turned around and found Lena holding her pistols and ready to rumble. “One broken gadget can’t put me out of a fight,” Lena said as she started to spray laser bullets Widowmaker’s way. 

“What the hell is that girl doing?” Ana said looking at the gunfight from a distance. “Fareeha, come to my position. I need a lift.”

“Right away Ami,” Fareeha said, firing off some rockets at some Talon troops before flying off into the air. As she reached her mother on the rooftops, Fareeha grabbed Ana by her waist.

“Where do you need to be dropped off?” Fareeha asked.

“On that roof right there,” Ana said pointing to a rooftop across the street. “I need to get to Lena and Ameile.”

“Can’t I just drop you closer to them?”

“Fareeha, I’m only 60 years old. I can still make my way around a battlefield. You and your rockets are needed elsewhere.”

Ana looked down below, seeing the fires, laser fire, and mobs of people either running away or towards each other.

“I’ve never gotten this view of a battle before. How do you deal with this so often?”

“Someone when I was young told me to never let fear get the best of them during a fight.”

Fareeha stopped her flight as she dropped Ana off, but they didn’t part without a hug and Ana giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek.

“Hza tayibana wafaqk alllah,” (Good luck) Fareeha said.

“Nfs alshshi lak,” (Same to you) Ana responded. She immediately ran over to the roof’s edge and jumped the narrow gap, making her way towards Ameile and Lena. Fareeha flew off back into the fray.

Aleksandra relished in delight for the chance to destroy Omnics again. Her particle cannon hadn’t gotten a good workout since she was back in Russia, so she was firing laser beams and particle grenades at whatever Omnics she saw, whether they were actively attacking or not. Mei took more care with her freezing gun, only freezing Talon troops and setting up ice walls to protect the innocents.

When turning down a street, Aleksandra and Mei were confronted with a group of rogue Omnics, who turned around from their terrorizing to come towards them. Aleksandra’s first impulse was to give Mei a forcefield. 

“You’re covered! Get in there!” Aleksandra shouted.

Mei ran towards the Omnics with her freeze gun ready, freezing all of them as Aleksandra launched more grenades, destroying the mechanical beings. 

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Aleksandra said as the two of them moved on.

Jack was running against a stampeding crowd. They were all running from once direction, so something had to be causing the trouble on the other side. As he broke through, he saw Reaper, who had just finished teleporting from the truck, showing off his shotguns.

“Hello again, Jack” Reaper said. “Shall we do this again?”

“As good a place as any, Gabe,” Jack said turning his tactical visor on.

“Die! Die! Die!” Reaper said spinning around with smoke coming off his robes, firing his shotguns off in all directions. Jack tucked and rolled around the circle Reaper formed, but bullets still hit his left arm and legs. Jack shot back, but his bullets seemed to have no effect on the whirling dervish. 

A series of cracks rang out and Reaper finally winced over in pain. Both him and Jack looked above to see where the shots came from. Sure enough, they saw Jesse twirling around his six-shot pistol on a nearby roof. Reaper disintegrated into smoke, following the gunslinger to his position.

“You,” Reaper said as he formed.

“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to do that,” Jesse said proudly with a smirk on his face.

“After I taught you everything you know?”

“I picked up some tricks of my own along the way,” Jesse said as he dropped a flashbang. He grabbed the dazed Reaper and threw him over the ledge. He didn’t see Reaper actually hit the ground, just dissolve into another smoke cloud.

Mako followed the directions Satya gave as she tried to remember where she saw Lucio heading off to. The man moved by way of roller blades, she could not have gone that far. Jamie meanwhile was still tossing explosives out of his side of the car, hoping that he could at least fulfill his day’s plans of destroying some Omnics.

As they turned right onto a major street, they saw the green streak Lucio gave off and sped forward. Lucio was still blasting Talon men and playing some of his music through his sonic gun. But when he heard the sound of heavy metal guitars behind him get closer and closer, he made haste, trying to get some blasts at the buggy off course. He stopped doing so when he feared that would just lead to innocents getting hit by the vehicle.

“Hana, I’m going to need some backup here and soon,” Lucio said into his earpiece as he turned around and jumped into the direction of the buggy.

“Oh let’s break it down!” Lucio exclaimed as he drilled his sonic gun into the front of the buggy, emitting a sonic wave that caused the front axle to fall off. The buggy then skid to a stop after a few feet. 

“Alright Junkrat, Roadhog,” Lucio said pointing his gun at the passengers. “You two aren’t going to cause any more trouble for,” he stopped talking as he noticed the third passenger. A face he had grown to hate. “Wait, Symmetra? You’re helping these two?” 

“Lucio, please,” Satya begged. “ I need your help. The junkers need your help. You and whoever you’re here with.”

“Uh-nuh. I am not helping anyone who threatened to harm these good people. And,” Lucio looked up to the sky, seeing Hana’s mech coming down his way, “I think my girlfriend will agree.”

The mech landed next to the buggy’s wreckage with Hana aiming the mech’s guns at the three passengers. “Step away from my boyfriend, dagsin-I apeun jass-eoyo!” (you sick fucks) she shouted.

“You tell me to step off again and I’ll shove one of my bombs up your robot’s ass!” Jamie shouted in return.

“Hey Hana,” Lucio said in a tone that suggested the three be mocked. “These three, who helped starts this whole fight, want us to help them.”

“Help you? With what?” Hana questioned the three.

“The junkers were all set up,” Satya addressed the girl in the mech. “We know Talon did this all along. Jamie said it himself we worked with them. Just get us out of here and we’ll tell you everything.”

“Lucio,” Hana said after taking a few moments to think about it. “This is too good to pass up. Besides, don’t you know what this means? We get to have prisoners!”

“Okay,” Lucio addressed the three. “My babe said we’re gonna protect you so we’ll do that. Don’t think we’ll do the same once we get back to our base.” The last comment was directed towards Satya. “Hey Torbjorn, we need a pickup here.”

“On my way,” Torbjorn said making his way to the cockpit and turning the ship’s engines on. “I should tell you I haven’t flown one of these in a long time.”

Torbjorn managed to pilot the ship well enough to avoid destroying any buildings, but he did come close a few times. As he found Lucio and Hana’s location, he landed the ship on top of some parked cars.

“Sorry about that,” Torbjorn said embarrasingly as he opened the ships doors. “I didn’t see those. We have some prisoners?”

“We sure do,” Hana said as the group of five boarded the ship and she ejected from her mech. “I think it’s time we hightail out of here. The fight’s pretty much dying down.”

“Right you are. I’ll make the rounds to pick everyone up. Hey everyone,” Torbjorn said out to all the members. “We’re about to head out in a little bit. I’m on my way with the ship to pick you all up.” 

Torbjorn turned the ship back on again and proceeded to fly around the city, searching for the disparate members. He first picked up Aleksandra and Mei, who just broke out of a block of ice Mei made around themselves for protection. He found McCree still on the rooftops making deadeye shots at the terrorists below. Next came Winston and Reinhardt, then Genji, then Jack and Fareeha, all fighting off the last remains of Talon men. Zenyatta and Bastion were still hiding with the Omnic leaders, who were grateful for the assistance they provided. The junkers had retreated, the rogue Omnics had been destroyed, and whatever Talon agents who weren’t dead or arrested retreated as well. Angela was the last one to be picked up, found providing medical assistance to wounded soldiers and bystanders. 

“Lucio, Hana, you caught Junkrat!” Angela said happily, hugging the two of them as she got on board before noticing Mako and Satya. “Who are the other two?”

“My name is Satya Vaswani,” Satya confessed. “I’m an employee of the Vishkar Corporation. And I’ve been working with Talon and the junkers for many weeks now. Junkrat and Roadhog here were the only friends I made during my time there. If you take us with you, we’ll tell you everything we know about Talon and their plans. Because Jamie was telling the truth in his little speech.”

“Our base is a little cramped right now, but we can’t pass up a lead as good as this. Welcome aboard.” Angela said in a welcoming manner. She started doing a headcount of the group. “Okay, Ana is still on the rooftops, so 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 with our three new friends that’s 17.” She stopped at seventeen because someone was still missing. 

“Where’s Lena?”

Lena and Widowmaker were still fighting on the rooftops. At this point, they’ve been shooting at each other to no avail, and with the other fights happening in Numbani dying down, they mutually decide to resort to hand-to-hand combat. A fitting way to end their conflict.

“You don’t know when to stop, do you?” Widowmaker said landing a punch on Lena’s head. 

“Not stopping saved my life more times than I can count,” Lena said trying to get some kicks in aimed at Widowmaker’s chest, but got blocked. “You’re the one who should stop. I don’t hear as much gunfire anymore. I’m sure Talon lost.”

“When it comes to you,” Widowmaker responding with kicks of her own, “I don’t think I can stop until you’re dead.”

“Now that’s a compliment I don’t get every day,” Lena said getting some kicks in.

“Don’t you,” a missed punch, “ever know,” a punch to the side, “how to shut up?”

“I thought you liked hearing the sound of my voice,” Lena said blinking out of range of Widowmaker’s limbs.

“It’s grown more insufferable every time I see you.”

“The Ameile I know wouldn’t say that.”

Widowmaker stopped, confused at the statement. It was a name she hadn’t heard in years. 

“Who’s Ameile?”

“You are.”

Widowmaker started running towards Lena, who was adjusting her body to brace for the upcoming impact. “Did Talon make you forget your own name?”

Widowmaker slid towards the gap in Lena’s legs, activating her purple poison from her wrist and dowsing Lena in it. Just as in Lijang, Lena fell down from breathing in the smoky poison.

“My name is not Ameile,” Widowmaker said standing up over the crumpled body. “It’s Widowmaker.” She pulled the rifle from her back and flaunted it in front of Lena. “I have to say Tracer, you were a worthy, if not annoying, adversary. It will be a shame once I end your life, since my kills won’t be as lively again. Don’t worry, I wont make any mistakes this time.” Widowmaker took her rifle and aimed it at Lena’s head, with the muzzle close to being buried in her forehead. “Say hello to Mondatta when you see him. Adieu Cherie, pour la derniere fois.” (Goodbye sweetheart, for the last time)

Unbeknownst to Widowmaker, Lena was reaching for a button on the side of her accelerator. When pressed, it activates the newly upgraded recall feature. Lena hardly had the strength to push it before having Widowmaker’s rifle aimed at her head, but she managed to press it and disappeared.

Widowmaker was dumbfounded, looking around the rooftop before seeing Lena standing behind her, not affected by the poison at all.

“I don’t make the same mistakes either,” Lena said pushing another button on the accelerator. Her blinking ability was sent into overdrive, rushing towards Widowmaker and landing all the free punches and kicks she could manage. Widowmaker had no defense at all from the glowing blue streak of light circling her, no matter what Talon training she had. For once in her life, she realized she had been beaten. And soon enough, Lena landed the final knockout punch that sent Widowmaker to the roof’s floor.

Lena didn’t stop when Widowmaker was on the ground. She straddled her body and continued punching her face. “That’s for Mondatta,” Lena shouts. “That’s for all the Overwatch agents you killed! That’s for all the innocent people you killed! Every! Single! One!” 

Lena did tire herself out from punching after a few more seconds, in which case she stopped to catch her breath. Widowmaker’s body was now coved in bruises. Most of them didn’t show through her skintight outfit, but she’ll be damned if she didn’t feel every one.

“So,” Widowmaker said as she spit out some of her chilled blood. “The great Tracer has finally caught the spider. What does she plan to do with it?”

Lena knew exactly what she wanted to do. Ana’s plan be damned, she was going to kill this blue muderer. Lena pulled out one of her pistols and aimed it at the same spot on her head Widowmaker aimed her rifle on her.

“Oh well done, cherie,” Widowmaker said amused at this turn of events. “Learning from the best, I see.”

“Shut up! You’re never gonna hurt anyone again,” Lena said as some tears started to form in her eyes.

“Cheerful, happy Tracer suddenly has the urge to kill. Doesn’t it make you feel good inside? That you feel truly alive for once in your life?”

Lena did not acknowledge that remark. She just kept eye contact with Widowmaker’s piss-yellow eyes. 

“Come on and make me proud of you, cherie. Show me you were the best opponent I ever had. Aller de l’avant. Tue-moi.” (Go ahead. Kill me)

Lena had every intention of pulling the trigger, but just couldn’t bring herself to make the final leap.

“Fais le!” (Do it!)

Lena hesitated some more and looked away. When she turned back to face Widowmaker, she saw she was knocked out. Still breathing, still alive, but out of it. 

“What did I tell you about the plan, Lena?” an Arabic-tinged voice said.

Lena turns around to see Ana, watching over the two of them, holding her sleep dart gun. 

“I had her Ana,” Lena said now with more tears ready to come down. “I was gonna end the suffering she caused.” 

“This is not you, Lena,” Ana says. “She was just toying with you. Do you think this can really end everything she’s done?” 

“Ana, she didn’t remember her name. She doesn’t know she’s Ameile.” 

“It’s something I suspected,” Ana said activating her earpiece. “Torbjorn, I found Lena. We have Widowmaker incapacitated and ready to move out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack
> 
> Les Vieux - Jacque Brel
> 
> Kings of the Wild Frontier - Adam and the Ants
> 
> Overkill - Motorhead


	8. If You Could Read My Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team starts trying to turn Widowmaker back into Ameile Lacroix. The junkers strike an alliance with Overwatch. A change in Talon leadership.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shits about to get real here people. And I felt the need to get this up today since I'm not sure if I still have a writing job as of today.

1.

“Ameile. Ameile, wake up!”

Widowmaker slowly came to as she opened her eyes. She found herself tied to a chair sitting across a table from a woman she long thought dead. The room was made up of grey tile, a one-way window, and dim lighting that could easily be turned up more. Widowmaker saw she wasn’t wearing her skintight outfit anymore, instead wearing grey sweatpants and a black tanktop. She couldn’t feel the weight of her infrared visor on her head and felt her blue hair drape across her face and back.

For once, the spider was trapped.

“Ameile,” Ana said. “Do you remember who I am?”

“I remember you,” Widowmaker said in a slow, threatening way. “I thought I killed you.”

“As I was recovering, there were times I wish you did. But then we wouldn’t be having this little chat now, would we?”

“You have yourself an eyepatch, huh? Showing the world how you were beaten?” 

“How am I beaten if I’m still here? Right now, I’m thinking more about what we’re going to do with you.” 

“If you’re going to interrogate me, or torture me, I won’t tell you a damned thing about Talon.”

“Oh, we have no need for that. You see, we picked up some of your friends back in Numbani. Going by the names Junkrat, Roadhog, and Symmetra. They willingly told us everything about Talon they know about. Where your base is and about the God program. Though Junkrat did keep going on and on about how he felt disrespected being there.”

Widowmaker’s heart sank. What use is she to Overwatch? She worried what the answer to the next question would be, but she just had to know.

“Why am I still alive if you know everything you needed?”

“Because Ameile, we’re gonna bring you back to us. Save you from whatever Talon did inside your head.”

“My name is not Ameile. It’s Widowmaker.”

‘We know there’s still some of you in there, Ameile. And the team here is gonna dig it out of you.”

Widowmaker thought to herself this has the potential to be infinitely worse than regular torture.

Ana pulled out a headshot of a man dressed up in an old Overwatch uniform smiling. “Do you recognize this man?” she asked.

Widowmaker recognized the face immediately. It was the man who appeared in her uncertain visions. The man who asked her to marry him in Paris. But she couldn’t let Ana know anything pertaining to that.

“Maybe I do and maybe I don’t,” Widowmaker replied.

“This man is Gerard Lacroix. Your husband.”

Widowmaker felt something stir up inside her. Her gut feeling was telling her that Ana was right. Gerard was her husband and they loved each other very much. But it just couldn’t be. She wouldn’t believe that her, a cold-blooded assassin, could have room in her heart for love. 

“I don’t have a husband.”

“Not anymore you don’t. You killed him.”

“I wouldn’t doubt that I killed him.”

“Tell me if you remember this sequence of events. Overwatch teams find you in an abandoned warehouse after going missing for months. You go home to Gerard and live your life as if nothing happened at all. Then, after two weeks, you kill Gerard in his sleep and go missing again. Do you remember all that, Ameile?”

“I can’t possibly keep track of everyone I killed. And my name is not Ameile.”

“That is your name because that’s who you are!” Ana started bursting out. “You’re a kind, supporting, loving, human being! Not this monstrosity with a sniper rifle in her place!”

“I suppose that’s what I am. A monstrosity. Because I’m not Ameile.”

Ana took a moment to calm down. She bragged often about doing physical feats despite being 60, but she was still 60. She needed rest as much as anyone. 

“I do believe that this man is Gerard Lacroix, but I won’t tell you anything more.”

“Since I have nothing else to say to you, I’ll let you meet someone else. Someone who has been longing to see you too.”

“If they’re all as old and frail as you, I have nothing to worry about.”

The door opened as Fareeha walked inside. She was wearing a white tank top exposing her arm muscles and gnashed her teeth as she saw the blue woman.

“Allow me to introduce my daughter, Fareeha,” Ana said. “Formerly of the Egyptian military and Helix Securities. It’s because of you I had to fake my death to her and my other friends. She requested to meet with you and I’m only going to indulge her this once. Between us ladies, you should pray I never have to call her in again.”

Ana walked back out towards the door. “Just let me know when you’re done.”

“It won’t be for a while, Ami,” Fareeha responded.

Ana closed the door, faintly hearing the sound of punches as she walked away.

 

2.

“Okay Roadie, I spy with my little eye,”

“It’s the room we’re in.”

“Oh come on. How did you know?”

“Because you were going to say ‘something black.’ And since there’s hardly any light in here, it can only be the room. You did that the last five times.”

“Well I was going to say brown, but that would’ve been too easy for you!”

“Quiet you two,” Satya said loudly. “I’m trying to think.”

“Think about what?”

“How we can make sure they can trust us.”

“We told them everything we know. How can they not trust us?”

“Because you two are criminals and I work for a dubious company.”

The door to the room opened with Winston and Lucio peering inside. The sudden amount of light briefly irritated the prisoner’s eyes.  
“Hello,” Winston said. “I feel it is necessary for me to give you an update on your situation here. Junkrat, Roadhog, the team has deemed it too dangerous for you two to go free given your ‘destructive’ history, so you’ll still be in our custody.”

“Oh come on mate,” Jamie complained. “We told you we’ll be on our best behavior.”

“What puzzles me most is you, Satya,” Winston said turning his attention to her. “You don’t have any prior criminal offenses, you work for one of the most technologically advanced companies in the world, why would they want be involved with Talon?”

“Not willingly,” Satya replied. “Vishkar was blackmailed.”

“How so?”

“You probably saw the news reports about mysterious bombings in cities like Mexico City, Johannesburg, Jakarta, and Mumbai. That was all Vishkar’s doing, trying to clear the way for new projects.”

“Oh, of course Vishkar was doing that,” Lucio said. “Destroying the lives of the poor for their meaningless towers.”

“If the Brazilian will let me finish. Someone with Talon named Sombra managed to get footage of the destruction.” 

“Sombra?” Winston seemed puzzled at the name. “That’s someone I haven’t heard before.”

“She was probably the one who made those Omnics turn in Numbani. I have no doubt that her and Talon are capable of turning much more.”

“Well, from what Lucio tells us, you were involved with Vishkar’s proposed redevelopments in Rio de Janeiro. The one’s the Lucio helped put an end to. Tell me Satya, why should we let three individuals with a history of dubious activity help us in taking down Talon? Aside from being a reservoir of info?”

“Because,” Satya had to pause to think about her response. The wrong choice of words could mean something horrible. “Because,”

“Because, you giant ape,” Jamie butted in, “we have something you apparently lack at the moment. Reinforcements”

“If you’re referring to your junker friends,” Lucio retorted, “I don’t think they can be of any use now.”

“You don’t know that, mate. If I know them, they’re probably running for their lives across Africa as we speak. And junkers never forget someone who crosses them. If you’d just let me and Roadie out of here,”

“I’ll be the judge of whether you can leave or not,” Winston said threateningly.

“What I was going to say was we could contact them about taking Talon down. And probably helping you lots here.”

Winston, satisfied with the response, asked Jamie one more question. “Is there any other reason you want to see Talon destroyed other than revenge?”

“No, I can’t say anything else for me and Roadie here. Satya?”

All the attention in the room turned to Satya.

“I am well aware that I have made errors. With Vishkar, I aided in their destructive plans to force their ideologies on those who didn’t want them. With Talon, I was forced into taking part in their chaos. I’ve been a tool for other people’s use no longer. It’s time that I make some kind of atonement for those.”

“Well,” Winston came back into the conversation. “I’ll discuss this with the others for further use. Junkrat, you can use one of our communicators to talk to the junkers. But only under our supervision.”

Winston and Lucio led their three prisoners out of the dark cramped room and down to the laboratory. There was a microphone on a table facing some screens with a map centered on the central African coast. Spots in Nigeria and Cameroon were marked. 

“We have triangulated the possible locations your friends might be at the moment,” Winston explained. “Just speak to the microphone.” 

“Hello, can anyone hear me?” Jamie said into the microphone

“zzzzzz. . . Junkrat? Junkrat is that you?” the voice of Roadman came through on the other side.

“Yeah Roadman, I’m here. And Roadhog is with me and Symmetra,”

“You dumb fuck! You left us out here to die! We have no fucking idea where to go!”

“Take it easy now, Roadman, I’ll tell you where we are. Winston, where are we?”

“Switzerland,” Winston replied.

Jamie’s heart sank. “Oh you got to be kidding me,” he muttered under his breath before going back to the microphone. “Umm, Roadman, we ended up in Switzerland.”

“Switzerland?” the voice on the other side shouted. “How does someone just end up in Switzerland coming from Africa?”

“Ey, is that Junkrat on the other side?” the voice of Stomper started to come through too.

“Yeah, it’s the fucker. And he’s in Switzerland!”

“Give me that. Junkrat you piece of shit! What the fuck are you doing there? You ran off with that Indian sheila and left us to die, didn’t you?”

“No I swear!” Junkrat tried to calm Stomper down. “We were captured by Overwatch!”

“You liar! Overwatch doesn’t exist anymore!”

“Seriously, that’s what happened! I’m at their base right now! Could anyone help me out here?” Jamie make the last statement towards his onlookers.

Satya stepped up beside Jamie and spoke into the microphone. “Excuse me, Stomper, I believe your name was?”

“Yes it is, Symmetra,” the voice of Stomper replied. “What are you doing stealing away our junkers?”

“I know you’re upset, but what Jamie said is true. Overwatch is up and running again, and they have an offer for you you’d be wise to take.”

“You do know the last offer we took was from you and it led out here in the middle of nowhere!”

“This time it’s no empty promise. We are offering you the chance to get your revenge on Talon, the same thing that Overwatch wants. If we work together and succeed, I will make good on my earlier promise to provide you with Vishkar built housing.”

The voices on the other side of the microphone went silent, with Satya and Jamie assuming the junkers were discussing the proposal.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Satya talked back into the microphone, “where are you right now?”

“We just raided a city called Douala for supplies,” the voice of Roadman said. “I think we’re still in Cameroon.”

“Where do you plan on going?”

“We’re going to try and make it all the way down to South Africa and steal a ship from there.”

“Now look, um, Roadman, we all know that you and the junker convoy will get caught long before you reach South Africa. Whether it be U.N. forces or the military of whatever country you’re going through. We’re offering you definite survival here. And you have nothing to lose at this point.”

The voices on the other side went silent again. 

“Alright Symmetra, how will you get us out of this damned continent?”

“So you agree then?”

“Yes, yes, of course. How will you get us out of here?”

“We’ll send an airship down there to pick you up. We’ll be in contact to let you know when.” Satya then turned off the microphone, ending the line of communication. “Oh, Winston, was I allowed to volunteer the airship’s uses?”

“There’s no problem at all,” Winston replied. “Considering you three are part of the team now.”

 

3.

Reinhardt walked out of the interrogation room in disappointment.

“What happened in there?” Ana asked.

“She didn’t remember me at all,” Reinhardt complained. “I mean she did remember me as the man in armor she’s fought against, but not me as a friend.”

“Well what did you talk to her about?”

“I tried bringing up the missions Gerard and I were on. Along with his teammates. But she only called them targets that deserved to get killed.”

“The same thing happened when McCree and Torbjorn! Well, we must continue.” 

“I’ll go next,” Jack offered. 

“You sure about that?” Ana asked.

“I went on more missions with Gerard than any person here. I feel I can speak for him more.”

“By all means do so. We just need her to properly remember.”

Jack entered finding Ameile on her side of the table unfazed, eager to take on a new victim. 

“Ameile, do you remember me?” Jack asked as he sat down.

“Talon files on Overwatch state that your name is Jack Morrison,” Widowmaker said. “A member of the original Overwatch strike team. They also say you’re deceased.”

“Yeah, I’ve been getting that a lot.”

“Reaper has quite the complaints about you.”

“I imagine he does. Ameile, I’m here to try and talk to you about Gerard.”

“You and everyone else that’s come in here.”

“I want to tell you about a mission Gerard and I went on. No use struggling, you’re struck here with me.”

“Oh no, I can hardly wait.”

“In 2064, Gerard and I were part of a hostage rescue team. We were sent to Taipei to retrieve a diplomatic envoy. Taken by a terrorist group who wanted Taiwan returned to China, but that’s not the point. While we were flying out there, Gerard kept telling me about this woman he was seeing. Saying how beautiful she was, how supportive she was about him going on missions, how whenever she came to whatever base he was stationed at, she could instantly make friends with whoever else was there. Anyways, the mission goes off without a hitch, we save the hostages, and hightailed it out of here. And do know what he said as we were on our ship back to base? He said, ‘I can’t wait to see Ameile again. Because I’m going to take her to Paris and ask her to marry me.’” 

Widowmaker felt another sensation inside her. She thought she could see herself and Gerard walking through an Overwatch base, Turkey if she could remember right. Gerard was explaining the different parts to her, but she thought if she saw one Overwatch base, she saw them all. 

“I was at Gerard’s funeral too. Even the people who spoke at it, knowing that you killed Gerard, had nothing but nice things to say about the two of you.” 

“I don’t know what you want me to get out of this, Mr. Morrison,” Widowmaker said, regaining her composure.

“Ameile, don’t you feel anything in there? Any remorse at all?”

“My name is not Ameile. And no, I don’t.”

“You were given something that most people would wait their entire lives for. Wasn’t there anything in the back of your mind telling you, ‘I shouldn’t do this?’ ‘I’m a better person than this?’”

“Mr. Morrison, I’m sure you know this seeing as you’re a trained soldier as well. We are taught that the kill is more important than whatever personal stakes we may have. A kill is a kill.”

“But you weren’t taught, you were brainwashed!”

“The dwarf, cowboy, and giant knight all said the same thing, and yet I’m not cracking. So if you want to see yourself out, the door is right behind you. Feel free to tell the next interrogator they have to do better.”

Jack stormed out of the room in anger, disgusted by his apparent failure. Ameile still held a smile on her face, satisfied with that she did. But she felt her hands uncontrollably twitching in their bonds. That hasn’t happened before.

 

4.

Reaper paced around nervously. The heads of Talon wanted to see him again regarding the operation in Numbani. Given his recent run of failures, all he wanted was to at least not hear anything negative. 

“You may come in now, Reaper,” the voice of one of Talon’s leaders said.

Reaper entered the room, finding the council of Talon leaders sitting behind a table. Their faces were obscured by the darkness.

“Reaper, we would like to commend you for actually giving a satisfactory performance in Numbani.”

“Thank you,” Reaper said surprised. “It’s nice to get some proper recognition for once.”

“Using the junkers as a diversion was a clever tactic on your part.”

“Please, that was Sombra’s idea.”

“However, it is the opinion of this council that you have no business leading any further missions.”

“Excuse me?” Reaper asked dumbfounded. “Talon would not be where it is in the world without me.”

“In the last mission, you managed to lose Widowmaker, one of our most prized assets, and let Overwatch make many of our troops ineffective. You’re lucky Sombra was there to control those Omnics. Otherwise it would’ve been must worse for us.”

“If you’re criticizing me, how come you said my performance was satisfactory?”

“We were there to create chaos and we did so. But don’t expect any combat missions on your part. We will assign you to other matter.”

In a quick motion, Reaper pulled out one of his shotguns and fired at one of the council members with such force, he collapsed backwards out of his chair. Reaper ran towards their table and jumped on it.

“You think you can run a proper military organization? You haven’t been out in the field the way I have in years. I’ve been part of Overwatch, Blackwatch, and this shitshow of a terrorist group. You have no idea what’s coming, what the world is preparing for us. I think it’s time for a change in leadership.”

“Reaper, you’ve gone insane!”

“That’s what death will do to a man. Die! Die! Die!”

Twirling around on the table firing his shotguns, Reaper managed to kill all but one of the fleeing council members. Only one was left alive, crawling towards the door, bleeding out. Reaper flipped him on his back and aimed his shotguns at his chest.

“I’m in charge now.” 

“What do you know about leading? You never led Overwatch. Your records for Blackwatch don’t exist anymore.”

“Your soul will fill me plenty,” Reaper said as he fired his gun. 

 

5.

“I’d like to talk to Ameile,” Lena requested to Ana.

Ana was taken aback by the request. “Lena, are you sure? You don’t have a proper history with Gerard or Ameile.”

“Yeah, but I’ve fought her the most recently. Even if the other guys couldn’t completely get to her, she must be rattled somewhat in her head.”

“If you wish. But there are some things I want you to say to her, and to show her something too.”

Ana handed Lena a manila envelope containing another picture inside. She also walked Lena down to the interrogation room, coaching her in what to say to Widowmaker to try and make parts of Ameile come out.

“Remember Lena,” Ana warned her. “Do not lose your temper in there. And only refer to her as Ameile.”

“Ameile, don’t get angry. Got it,” Lena said eager to open the door.

As Lena walked inside towards the table, Widowmaker flashed a smile her way.

“So, the fools finally sent the cavalry in,” Widowmaker said tauntingly. “My sweet Cherie nonetheless.”

“I’m not your Cherie,” Lena said sitting down at her chair.

“After all we’ve been through, you don’t have the littlest bit of a soft spot for me?” 

“I do, but it’s not for whoever is occupying Ameile’s body.”

“No matter what you try, it won’t do you a bit of good. So what’s your plan today? Annoy me with your voice till I crack? Talk me to death? You’ve already tried both of those and failed.”

“No. I want to show you this.”

Lena pulled out an old photograph and laid it down for Widowmaker to see. It was a group photo taken at a costume party at Gibraltar many years ago. Mercy was dressed as a devil, Torbjorn a pirate, McCree a 1920’s gangster, and Jack as an Evel Knievel type stuntman.

“You all look ridiculous, Cherie,” Widowmaker said laughing to herself. “It’s a shame I have nothing in return.”

“Look harder,” Lena firmly said.

Upon closer inspection, Widowmaker did see Gerard in the group, dressed up in a male ballet unitard. And next to him was

Herself.

No mistake about it, Widowmaker did recognize her own face, but it was truly puzzling seeing herself with normal flesh colored skin. And she was wearing a frilly white ballet dress. And she was laying her back close to Gerard’s chest. 

“What are you trying to do?” Widowmaker asked. “How do I know this picture isn’t fake?”

“This picture was taken in the time before I joined Overwatch,” Lena started. “You and Gerard were there dressed as Odette and Siegfried from Swan Lake. I was told you even tried to perform a routine from the ballet, even though Gerard wasn’t very good at it and you two fell over a few times. I may have joined the team after he died, but I could tell how in love the two of you were. You were lucky to have him as a husband.”

Widowmaker felt something inside of her again. She saw more memories. One was of giving a ballet performance in a small theatre. Not many were in attendance. The other thing she saw was Gerard talking about Overwatch recruits, among them was the name Lena Oxton. 

“What are you doing to me?” Widowmaker said as her hands twitched out of nervousness. “What are you all doing?”

“Trying to activate more of your old memories,” Lena said calmly. “And I gather that it’s working.”

Widowmaker continued struggling against the bonds of her chair.

“Let me ask you something Ameile. All those times we fought each other, on King’s Row, Lijiang, Numbani, the museum, some of those times you were singing to yourself. Why was that? Wouldn’t that have the risk of giving yourself away?”

“You, . . aren’t going . . . to win,” Widowmaker tried to say.

“And here’s something else I want to know. Why do you keep calling me Cherie?”

Widowmaker kept struggling.

“Ameile, stop fighting it and answer me!”

“My name . . is not . . Ameile!” Widowmaker shouted as she stood up trying to knock the table over, but couldn’t get enough leverage with her hands still tied to the chair, so the table just slided crookedly. Lena just got up from her chair and backed away.

“Tracer, when I get out of these bonds, I’m going to finish what I set out to do.”

“Ameile, just calm down. I’m just trying to help”

“Don’t you tell me to be calm!”

Jack and Jesse entered the room, holding Ameile’s back down to the floor. They undid Widowmaker’s bonds, held her by her arms, and escorted her back to her cell. She gave Lena another threatening look as she passed by her.

Ana was looking at the whole exchange from behind the window. Now we got her, she thought to herself.

 

6.

“She’s resisted every test we try on her,” Winston said in the lab. Ana and Angela were there going over some more tests they did on Widowmaker. “Ana, I’m worried that this is a lost cause.”

“Not yet Winston,” Ana replied. “You’re looking at it the wrong way. When Lena was talking to her, there looked like some realization on her face. As if she discovered something lost. And she was angry too. Talon was supposed to deaden her emotions right, then how come she got angry? I think we just need one final push to fully bring her back.”

“And what are you suggesting?”

“Dr. Ziegler.”

Angela brought up some charts on the monitors, all related to Widowmaker’s biology.

“Whatever Talon conditioning they did to her was nearly airtight,” Angela said scrolling through the charts. “What interested me the most was how they managed to turn her skin blue. Upon investigation, I found that it comes from having an extremely decelerated heartbeat. Her average bpm is only 45. It certainly helps with avoiding any heat trackers, but no normal human can survive with a bpm so low. So that led me to analyze whatever’s going on in her brain. That’s when I noticed some odd peculiarities.”

Angela pulled up a CAT scan of Widowmaker’s brain.

“It may not look that different from a regular brain, but it has somehow been adapted to survive with a lower oxygen supply. It would explain how Ameile can live despite having blue skin. Also having a brain deprived of oxygen will effect aspects. In Ameile’s case, Talon had it so it would affect her memories and emotions.”

“How does that explain her emotional reactions lately?” Winston asked.

“I’m going to guess some of Talon’s conditioning is weakening.” 

“So what is it you plan to do?” 

Angela simply picked up a syringe with a clear liquid inside. “I developed a solution that essentially a heightened form or adrenaline. Not only will it raise her bpm, but the extra blood flow to her brain should reactivate the disabled sections. Ideally, her skin will no longer be blue, her memories as Ameile will return, and, hopefully, be of no use to Talon.”

“You said ideally. Is there a chance it can’t work?”

“I mean, I haven’t tested this solution yet, so there is the chance that it doesn’t work and Ameile will remain Widowmaker. But there is the third option.”

“Third option?”

“The third option is that it works, but with some side effects on her part. Ameile will essentially have the memories of two people inside her head, so she may have trouble distinguishing whom they truly belong to. And when have we known Ameile to be willing to kill someone? She wouldn’t. So she may have some trauma upon the realization she killed so many people.”

“It’s a risk we have to take, Angela.” Ana sternly said. “Anything to get Ameile back.”

“Just give me some time to prepare and I’ll be ready for this tomorrow.” 

The next day, Widowmaker laid on the cot in her dark blank cell. She heard a knock on door. 

“Come in,” Widowmaker said passively

Angela and Ana walked in with the light from the hallway shining in on the dark space too.

“You know you have a lightswitch in here,” Ana said.

“So doctor, what grand experimentations am I in for today?”

“Ameile, I must say that Widowmaker’s time with us is almost at an end.”

“You’ve finally had enough of me, have you? I didn’t cooperate so now I must be eliminated?”

“Oh, it’s not that at all. We are going to test a procedure on you.”

“Procedure?”

“Ana, if you’d please.”

Ana pulled out her sleep dart gun and fired, knocking Widowmaker out again.

When Widowmaker came to, she found herself strapped to an operating table with a gas mask around her mouth and nose. A hole in her surgery gown revealed the cleavage between her breasts, with a dotted line along her breastbone. Looking around, Widowmaker saw Angela, Mei, and Winston dressed in blue scrubs. Bastion was there too, though not in scrubs since he was an Omnic. She also recognized that this was the interrogation room, just with medical equipment inside.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” Angela said. “Now I can properly explain things to you.”

“Yes, you better explain doctor,” Widowmaker said with her voice muffled by the mask,

“I believe I found the secret for turning you back to normal once and for all. And it has to do with your bloodflow. With your decelerated heartbeat, parts of your brain have either been turned off or reorganized. After the procedure is done, normal bloodflow will be restored and your brain should return to it’s normal Ameile Lacroix state.”

Widowmaker looked around the room some more and saw the large syringe on one of the tables with all the surgery tools.

“I take it you’re not going to stick that thing through my head,” 

“Oh no, we’re going straight for your heart. Hence your setup right now.”

“Tout ce que vous faites pour moi, ça ne marchera pas,” (whatever you do to me, it won’t work) Widowmaker threatened.

“Il sera, et Ameile nous reviendra,” (It will, and Ameile will return to us) Angela retorted. She turned the knob on a nearby cylindrical tank, administering the laughing gas. Within a few inhalations, Widowmaker was knocked out.

“Alright,” Angela announced. “We are ready to being the procedure. Mei, hand me the scalpel.”Mei followed the order and handed Angela a scalpel.

“I am now cutting open the skin over the patients’ breastbone.”

Angela pierced the skin where Widowmaker’s collarbones met her ribcage. Dragging it down along her chest, Angela felt chills on her hands as she pulled the skin apart, exposing the bone. The medications she injected into the surgical patient stopped and blood from flowing out of the cuts, but Angela was still disturbed by what she saw. The blood clots were a darker shade of blue than her skin. In fact, as Angela first saw Widowmaker’s lungs and esophagus, they were all shades of blue. How is this woman still alive? Angela thought to herself.

“Winston, the laser please.” Winston did as ordered.

“I will now use this laser to break open the patient’s ribcage.”

Angela ran the laser down the side of Widowmaker’s left ribs. As she opened up the ribcage further, Angela finally saw the heart lying under the left lung. It was a very dark shade of navy, beating only once every two seconds. 

“Mei, the syringe.” Mei placed the needle in Angela’s left hand, and she tried to push the lung out of the way with her right. 

“I will now place the syringe into the patient’s chest cavity and inject the serum into the heart.”

Angela needed to find the spot to place the syringe just right. Granted, since Widowmaker’s hearbeat was slower than the average human, any puncture mistakes won’t result in as much bleeding. But nothing can be left to chance, lest Widowmaker’s heart stopped completely. 

Angela made her decision where to stick the needle. Into the Superior Vena Cava. From there, the blood would flow through the right side of the heart and to the rest of the body through the Pulmonary Artery. 

Slow and steady, Angela moved the syringe closer and closer before finally puncturing the giant vein. Slowly Angela pushed the needle down, injecting the fluid. When the serum was entirely deposited into Widowmaker’s bloodstream, Angela removed the syringe, leaving behind a small hole. Blood started to seep out.

“Bastion, the caduceus staff please.” Bastion grabbed the staff and placed it in Angela’s left hand.

“I will now start the healing process.” 

With the bones of Widowmaker’s rib cage settled, Angela activated a yellow light out of her staff. A stream of nanobots came out, descended onto her ribcage, and mended the bones so no trace of cracks were there. They also healed the puncture hole leading into the heart. The nanobots then healed the skin on Widowmaker’s chest, only leaving behind a faint scar nestled between the cleavage when they were finished. 

With the patient healed, Angela’s attention turned to the heart rate monitor. Compared to the previous bpm of 30 during surgery, it had returned to its normal resting rate of 45.

Then it crept up to 46. And after a few seconds, 47. 

“Alright everyone, the procedure’s complete” Angela said confidently. “Now we must let the patient rest.”

Angela’s assistants helped rearrange the room from a surgical room to a recovery room. Widowmaker’s gas mask was removed. Sure of her work, Angela told her assistants to take off their scrubs and leave. They met up with the other Overwatch members who were watching from the other side of the one-way window. 

“How long before Ameile is fully recovered?” Ana asked.

“It will obviously take a bit for the serum to restore number blood flow,” Angela responded. “Her bpm is rising, but only time will tell if that’s from the serum or some other external forces.”

 

7.

Widowmaker’s eyes slowly rolled open. Not completely since her vision was slightly blurry, but she could make out enough to realize where she was. In the interrogation room, but changed into a makeshift recovery room. She felt straps against her wrists, looking around as her blurry vision could sort of make out a fluid bag and a heart rate monitor machine.

“Hello Ameile,” Angela said walking into the room, carrying a plate of toast and orange juice. “How are we feeling today? Let me undo these straps so you can eat.” 

Widowmaker still felt groggy, not fully in it enough to make full words. Nor the strength to try moving her arms to take in the food. But she tried saying, “what happened?”

“Your blood pressure is higher than normal,” Angela said moving over to the monitor. “BPM currently at 110. Your heart must have years of catching up to do.” 

110? That had to be a lie. Widowmaker’s vision became less blurry and she could fully see Angela. And the heart rate monitor machine did not lie. 110 BPM.

Widowmaker then looked down at her arms and feet. They weren’t blue anymore. Just the same flesh color she saw herself in the photograph. She pulled her hair in front of her face. It didn’t have a blue tint either. It was back to being jet black.

“Would you like to see the new, or should I say, old you?” Angela said handing over a mirror. 

Widowmaker grabbed it in her right hand and held it in front of her face. Sure enough, it was no longer blue either. Her face was back to being just a flesh color, with a slight rosiness on her cheeks. 

But the thing that struck Widowmaker the most was her eyes. They were no longer yellow, but a shade of piercing dark blue. And they started to water up.

Widowmaker was no more. Ameile Lacroix now sat in her place, returned from the grave.

“What did you do to me?” Ameile asked, unsure of what was happening.

“What I said I would do before the surgery. What we all said we’d do. Make you Ameile again. And I must say, you still look as lovely as you used to.”

Ameile jumped up out of her bed, knocking the food onto the floor, pushing the BPM monitor out of the way and grabbing Angela by her doctor’s coat. She threw her up against the wall opposite of the bed.

“Why have you done this to me?” Ameile shouted loud enough for the onlookers on the other side to get very worried. “Turn me back! Turn me back now!”

“Angela,” Winston said on the speakers. “Jack and Ana are on their way to help.”

“No Winston!” Angela shouted. “Just give it some time!”

“You’re going to turn me back into Widowmaker or I’ll kill everyone in this damned base!”

“I don’t know how, Ameile” Angela said starting to fear what would happen. “I worked on how to do this.”

“Listen you bitch,” Ameile said with a more powerful sneer. “I could snap your neck right now before your friends get here. So for your last warning, turn me back into Widowmaker!”

Gerard.

Something clicked in Ameile’s mind as she let go of her grip on Angela. She walked to the center of the room in a daze.

The images she had in her head as Widowmaker fully made sense. The ballet. Her romantic getaways with Gerard. They all came back to her. She even remembered her times spent with the Overwatch team whenever Gerard was on duty. Even the party Lena was taking about. She could see it better in her head than Lena could describe it.

“Angela?” Ameile asked looking back at her.

“Yes Ameile, I’m here,” Angela replied.

Suddenly Ameile could see something else. She saw herself lying in bed with Gerard, his hands laid over her stomach. She had the urge to get up and open up the window beside the bed. There, she found a pistol and the note waiting for her. The note said, “Vous chercher sur le toi lorsque vous avez termine l’emploi” (Pick you up on roof when you finish job). She picked it up, went back to bed, and aimed it at Gerard’s forehead. The cold metal pushing against his head woke him up, with terror in his eyes.

“Ameile?” Gerard asked meekly.

“Mon nom est pas Ameile,” (My name is not Ameile) she responded before pulling the trigger.

When she became aware of her surroundings again, Ameile collapsed to the floor and screamed.

“Ameile!” Angela said making her way over. “I’m here to help!”

“Se eloinger de moi!” (Get away from me!) Ameile shouted pushing Angela away and crawled towards a corner, sitting up in the fetal position. More horrible memories flooded into her head. She could see the machines Talon used to torture her. She could also see the many victims of her Widow’s Kiss.

Jack and Ana entered the room, taking immediate notice of the food on the floor, the scattered medical equipment, and the woman crying in a corner. 

“What’s going on here?” Jack asked. “What did she do?”

“She’s having an episode right now,” Angela replied keeping her eyes on Ameile. “This is the third option I was warning you about, Ana. Trying to cope with having two person’s memories in your head.”

“Je suis un tueur. Je suis un monstre,” (I’m a killer. I’m a monster) Ameile kept repeating to herself, rocking in the corner with tears running down her eyes.

The three walked slowly towards the crying woman, not going too fast as to aggravate her even more.

“Ameile,” Angela said grabbing Ameile’s tear-stained face and making it face her. “You’re among old friends now. We’re all here to help you.”

Ameile kept saying “Je suis un teuer, Je suis un monstre” before looking away from Angela at the other two faces. “Jack? Ana?” was all she could muster before letting her head hang low.

“Come on Ameile” Angela said dragging her body up from the floor into upright position. “We need to get you cleaned up.”

Angela dragged Ameile out of the interrogation room towards the bathroom. Ameile at the very least did move her legs while walking, but it was more of dragging them on the floor.

“Okay Ameile,” Angela said once they reached the bathroom. “I want you to take a shower, then you can get some more rest in your room. We will start your readjustment therapy tomorrow. Do you understand?”

Ameile didn’t give a verbal response. She just nodded her head, indicating agreement.

“Good. Just let me know if you need anything,” Angela said as Ameile went inside the bathroom. 

“How long will it take for Ameile to get in her right mind?” Ana asked.

“I don’t know,” Angela responded. “It could take weeks, months, or longer. It’s not just stabilizing her, it has to do with making sure any part of Widowmaker that’s still there doesn’t resurface.”

Ameile took a shower as ordered, but hardly made any movements in the shower aside from turning the shower on and rubbing shampoo in her hair. She stood under the nozzle, letting the water rush over her naked body. She didn’t sing to herself this time, but a song was still going through her head.

“If you could read my mind love, what a tale my thoughts could tell. Just like an old time movie, ‘bout a ghost from a wishing well.”

As she dried herself off in front of the mirror, Ameile stared at her reflection for a few minutes. As Widowmaker, there was always one hidden part of her mind that wished this would happen. That someone would finally manage to revert her back to her old form. Why wasn’t she happy? Why wasn’t she jubilant about the whole matter?

She looked at the fresh scar from the surgery, running perfectly down along her breastbone. The tattoo on her right arm was still there. Araignee du soir, Cauchemar, Ameile thought to herself. Evening spider, Nightware. The nightmare part was certainly fitting for right now. She turned around to look at the spider tattoo on her back. How appropriate an old fear of hers would be watching her. Maybe this is the one who will give her nightmares.

“In a castle dark or a fortress strong, with chains upon my feet. You know that ghost is me.”

Ameile walked out of the bathroom fully dressed and Mercy escorted her to her room. The other Overwatch members looked on as the two walked down the hallways to get a look at the supposedly resurrected woman. Another person they once thought dead retuned.

When Ameile entered her room, all she did was go to her bed, lie down on it, and stare at the ceiling, with the song still going in her head. 

“I never thought I could feel this way, and I have to say I just don’t get it. I don’t know where we went wrong, but the feeling’s gone, and I just can’t get it back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack: 
> 
> No. 29 Scene Finale - From Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake 
> 
> If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot


	9. Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amelie struggles in her newfound life, with Angela, Lena, and Zenyatta offering help. The rest of the junkers are now part of the Overwatch team. Arendse gets a strange proposal. Both Overwatch and Talon prepare for the inevitable final showdown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just an FYI, the next chapter after this will be the grand finale.

1.

“Ameile?” Angela asked knocking on the cell’s door, carrying a tray of food. “May I come in? I have your breakfast.” There was no response.

“Okay, I’m coming in anyway.”

Angela entered to find the lights turned off again. During the interrogations, she had learned to expect this. What she didn’t expect to see was Ameile lying facedown on the floor instead of her bed.

“Ameile!” Angela shouted running to her side. She flipped her over on her back. Ameile was still alive, but in noticeable pain. Angela’s attention was drawn to her right arm. There were fresh scabs surrounding the Cauchemar tattoo. Then Angela took a look at her left hand, whose fingernails were covered in a dark red.

“Ameile, wake up,” Angela said shaking her to try and do so. After a few seconds, Ameile slowly opened her eyes.

“Huhh, Angela?” the newly woken up Ameile said.

“Ameile, did you do this?” Angela asked holding up her cut right arm.

Ameile didn’t acknowledge her. She just stared at the arm, admiring the cuts she made. “I knew I should have dug deeper.”

Angela slapped Ameile’s face. She recoiled in the initial pain, but didn’t give any response to it after that. 

“This won’t be tolerated, Ameile! We can’t have you throwing your life away.”

“What will I do with it? Kill someone again?”

“Don’t keep putting yourself down like that! You can do whatever you want with your life now.”

“Then I wish to just stay in here then.”

“Nonsense. We still have to see if you’re physically fit.” Angela then picked Ameile up from the ground, drapping the scarred right arm over her shoulders. “Come on, get up, you need some exercise.”

In the grounds outside the base, Angela set up Ameile’s physical therapy for the day. A sparring session against the willing Overwatch members. Several of them were already waiting for Angela and Ameile to come out, with Fareeha and Aleksandra in their workout clothes. Angela brought Ameile outside, with the French woman wearing baggy clothes. She was lead to Fareeha, waiting for the chance to get some more licks on the woman who shot her mother. 

“You two may begin,” Angela called out.

“Don’t worry Ameile,” Fareeha said. “I’ll go easy on you.”

Fareeha moved in throwing some punches with Ameile backing away and avoiding with ease. 

“You can’t avoid me forever.”

After throwing a few more punches that missed, Fareeha then stood still, making a hand motion towards her face. “Come on, throw a punch at me. I’ll let you have one.”

At this instance, Ameile lunged forward, grabbing Fareeha by her left wrist. Ducking under the Egyptian woman, Ameile pressed her back against Fareeha’s torso, doing a backflip that forced Fareeha down on the hard earth.

“You should not have hit me before,” Ameile said staring down at the disarmed woman.

“Alright, give me a shot,” Aleksandra said stepping closer to the two of them. “There’s no way this skinny woman can take me down.”

The same routine initially played itself out. Aleksandra threw some punches Ameile’s way and she dodged them with ease, circling around the muscular woman. 

“Don’t just stand around, do something,” Aleksandra told Ameile tauntingly.

Ameile grabbed Aleksandra’s right and spun around behind her, holding the Russian’s arm against her back. Ameile aimed a punch at Aleksandra’s lower left back, going for her kidney. Ameile then let go, letting Aleksandra fall to the ground clutching where she was punched.

“If no one else wants to come forward, I think I’ll go back inside now,” Ameile directed at Angela. 

“Yes you may,” Angela replied. “I’ll be back to check up on you.” 

Ameile retreated back to the cabin, with Angela, Jack, Ana, and Reinhardt looking on.

“Well,” Angela said to the group. “What do you guys think?”

“So Ameile still has all of Widowmaker’s skills?” Reinhardt asked.

“It seems that way,” Jack said. “When I was working with her on her marksman skills, she still had perfect accuracy with her rifle. After this display here, she’s a perfectly capable soldier.”

“Ameile may have the abilities,” Ana went to say, “but she’s nowhere near the right state of mind to go out fighting for us whenever we want.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ana, but that’s an asset anyone would be lucky to have. We need to get some mileage out of her before someone else does.”

“Jack, she’s a lost soul. She’s gone through too much trauma.”

“I’ve killed my fair share of enemies too Ana. Seen things I wish I could unsee. And I’ve come back to do more missions every time because I believe in the team.”

“Jack,” Reinhardt interjected. “I have to agree with Ana here. It’s too soon for this woman to go out with us.”

“How else can we properly assess what she’s capable of?”

“I hear all your concerns,” Angela interjected. “But as a medical professional, I have to make sure Ameile is in the right state of mind before she even considers something like this.”

Angela went back inside the cabin to check up on Ameile. She was in her cell, sitting on her bed picking at the scabs surrounding her tattoo. Angela sat down beside her.

“Ameile, how are you feeling today?”

“Like shit.”

“No, I meant physically, how do you feel?”

“Like shit.”

“Your body is still in tremendous shape. It took quite the skill to take down Fareeha and Aleksandra like that.”

“I just wanted to get that over with. Widowmaker would’ve drawn the fight out to watch them suffer.”

Angela thought for a bit about what to say next. She knew Ameile was in no state to do what the others were expecting of her, but she felt it was something that needed to be addressed.

“Ameile, I know that we still need more work done on you, but the other team members were thinking that when you reach a point of mental stability, you would be able to provide us with assistance.”

“What kind of assistance? I’m sure you’re all capable of killing on your own.”

“I know you’re having a rough time right now, but you can’t just waste away in your cell. You need some positive group activity to reintroduce you into the world.”

“And suggesting going into a war was the first idea you came up with?”

“We’re on a tight schedule right now. Trying to take down Talon and all that.”

“No offense to you Angela, but I would like to be alone now.”

“You keep telling me that and yet I find you trying to cut your arm off! Ameile, we all want to see you get better. Even if you don’t want to join us, you still have to live your own life. And we want to help you with that.”

Ameile ignored the doctor, just staring at the room’s walls.

“Well, I’ll let you know when dinner is ready,” Angela said getting up from the bed and preparing to leave. “Try not to hurt yourself anymore than you’ve already have.”

 

2.

The Overwatch airship was been flying over the Cameroonian forest for hours, not finding any sign of junker activity. Night had fallen and even with the ships radar systems, it was difficult to get a read on anything. Occasionally the ship would get too low and almost hit the tree canopy.

“Woah, woah easy there Hana,” Lucio said as he tried to calm the pilot down. “This isn’t one of your mechs here.”

“Hey, I’m the only one here with any piloting experience!,” Hana snapped back. “If you want to fly this ship, be my guest.”

Jamie, Mako and Satya were pacing around the ships interior, looking out the windows for any possible sign of activity.

“So Jamie,” Satya said. “I imagine the junkers will be pretty mad when they see us again.”

“You and those two kids, maybe,” Jamie responded. “Roadie and I will be fine.”

“They do think we deserted them.”

“Well I’m coming back to save them. Can’t be mad at me now, can they.”

Satya had something on her mind during the time the junkers and her were in Overwatch’s custody. She thought about how she kissed Jamie in the middle of Numbani as they were surrounded by destruction. What was going through her head then? Did she really think she was going to die then? And that kissing the unruly Australian would make that any better? Granted, she couldn’t help her growing feelings for him, but that was taking it much too far for her.

“Um Jamie, about what happened in Numbani.”

“Yeah I know Satya, next time sometime tries to set us up, I’ll take your word for it.”

“No, I meant when we were hiding during the initial attack and I kissed you.”

“Oh, well what about that then?”

“I felt that you should know that was unprofessional of me. I wasn’t thinking clearly in a tense situation and let my emotions get the better of me. It won’t happen again.”

“Really? You seemed to like it. Enough to go in for another one.”

“I feel we can wait until our missions with Overwatch are over before discussing personal matters.”

“I don’t think you’d last that long considering my boyish charms.”

“Hey guys,” Hana shouted from the cockpit. “I’m picking up some signals from down below. Can you check it out?”

“I see them!” Jamie shouted, pointing the direction outside the hatchdoor. “The junkers are down there!”

Sure enough, down in the untamed greenery, the 50 or so junkers remaining had settled down for the night, lighting bonfires out of the trees they cut down. As soon as they saw the airship, they started waving their hands and shouting to get its attention. Hana took the ship down to the open clearing, with the junkers gathering around the landing spot.

“Never fear, your ol’ lovable Junkrat is here!” Jamie said making his way down out of the ship. The junkers, however, trampled over him as they rushed to get onboard. 

“Some nice ship you got here,” Roadman said impressed with the setup. “They even got a basketball hoop!” 

“Hooly dooly,” Jamie said getting back up in pain and entering. “I think that’s everyone.”

“Okay everyone, we’re taking off,” Hana said from the cockpit. “Next stop, Switzerland. It’s gonna be bumpy.”

Hana took off while everyone was still standing, with many struggling to maintain their footing. As the ship reached cruising altitude, Lucio made his way around the junkers reassuring them they’re going to a safe place.

“How long before we get to Switzerland?” Roadman asked.

“Not for a few hours,” Lucio responded. “Make yourselves comfortable standing around like this, because there aren’t enough seats for everyone. And there’s not enough room back at our base for everyone to sleep, so you’ll have to crash here.”

“Eh, at least it’s nicer in here than our trucks.”

Satya looked around from her seat at the junkers surrounding her. Granted, she had already spent plenty of time with them during the initial journey to Numbani, but the junkers then were full of giddy anticipation, awaiting their chance to destroy. Now, they were more composed, focused solely on getting their revenge, and not talking as much. It made them more terrifying to be around. 

Stomper sat down in an open seat next to Satya, with the junker woman eyeing the Indian up and down, much to Satya’s dismay.

“So, you and Junkrat huh?” Stomper said trying to talk to Satya.

“What about me and Junkrat?” Satya responded.

“You want to shag him, don’t you?”

“What? Of course not!” Satya said trying to maintain her composure, despite her growing affection for the man. “What on earth would make you think that?”

“If it’s any consideration, I had a one-night stand with him. So I can vouch for his skills in the sack.”

‘Stomper, this isn’t something I need to know about.”

“Oh come off it, I saw how you were looking at each other when he introduced you to us. And even in Numbani, you were hiding out together and ran off together, leaving us behind. Clearly you must like each other somewhat.”

“I was saving a man who was going to blamed for something out of his control.”

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. But if you come through for us, and give us all those fancy gadgets you said you would, I’m sure that’s something we’ll be forever grateful for. We may be scavengers, but we’re not total savages. We know when someone does something nice for us, so just expect Junkrat to do something to show his appreciation.”

Satya pondered what Stomper said. The junkers didn’t seem like the kind of people who reciprocated kindness, but they surprised her quite a few times at this point. And if that was true, what would Jamie have in mind for her?

 

3.

“Oi, Ameile, can I come in? I have your food.” Ameile heard the voice of Lena on the other side of the door.

“You may enter,” Ameile said languidly.

Lena entered to find Ameile laying on her bed, crunched up facing the close wall on her right. She was carrying a tray with toast and water.

“What are you doing starting at the wall, love?” Lena asked putting her tray down.

“It keeps me from hurting anyone,” Ameile said. “Voir comment ma vie n’a pas de but.”

“What was that?” 

“My life has no meaning now.” 

“What do you mean no meaning? We gave your life back to you.” 

“Some life it turned out to be.”

Lena pondered in thought for a bit for ideas on how to cheer Ameile up. She was cooped up in her little cell for too long. What she needed was real outdoor activity.

“Come on,” Lena told the French woman. “We’re going on a walk.”

“A walk?” Ameile said taken aback. “Where?”

“Outside of course. There’s a cute town nearby I’ve been meaning to check out.”

“Am I allowed to leave?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be watching. You can put on some of my clothes too. I’m not sure if sweatpants will cut it down there.”

With permission from Angela and Winston, Lena took Ameile down to the nearby town of Saint-Saphorin. Lena gave Ameile a shirt with the Union Jack on it and some tight-fitting leggings to wear. The walk there took about half an hour, going down hills, through farmland, and crossing highways. The town itself wasn’t big at all. Just a few blocks of classic Swiss-style buildings.

“Ah, isn’t this beautiful?” Lena asked as they arrived.

“Yes, I suppose it is,” Ameile said lost in thought. Her attention was directed at Lake Geneva, where they could get a view of no matter where they went in the town. They made their way into a café across the street from the main railway line along the lake.

“Hello,” Lena said to the barista as they walked inside. “Can we get two hot chocolates?” The barista didn’t understand.

“Ce qu’elle veut dire est que nous pouvons obtenir choclats chauds?” (What she means to say is can we get two hot chocolates?) Ameile clairifed in the appropriate language.

“Oui. A venir jusqu’a,” (Yes. Coming right up) the barista replied making their way to the hot chocolate machine.

“I’m sure I would’ve gotten it eventually,” Lena said in complaint.

“Not with that accent of yours,” Ameile said as the hot chocolates came out. “Merci.”

The two found a table outside the cafe, giving them a clear view of the lake and the French land on the other side.

“Is this the closest you’ve been to home since being taken by Talon?” Lena asked.

“I, I had some missions in France,” Ameile retorted. “But not anywhere near my actual home. I guess Talon was smart about that.”

“And where is home for you?”

“Annecy. It’s city on a lake about 20 kilometers south of Geneva. God, I hadn’t visited there since I told my parent’s I was getting married. But even then, I had no steady home as adult. Being a touring ballerina and all those visits to Gerard at bases around the world.”

“How did you and Gerard meet anyway?”

“He showed up at one of my performances in Paris. An adaptation of Cinderella. After the show he requested to meet me backstage. And things just took off from there.”

“So it was a love at first sight kind of thing?”

“Gerard treated me like a princess. He used to take me on boat rides along this lake,” Ameile said starting at the lake. She got emotional thinking about him again. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”

“No? I thought we were having a lovely talk.”

“I said I don’t want to talk about him,” Ameile said raising her voice. Lena respected her wishes, but that meant silence between the two of them for a few minutes.

“I don’t know how this weird this will sound,” Lena started up again, “but I had a dream about you after you broke my accelerator.”

“You did?” Ameile asked confusingly.

“Well not you you, you as in Widowmaker. I was just dancing in a nightclub with the other Overwatch people, then you and a bunch of other Talon agents showed up. You took off my accelerator and I got sent to a future where Talon ruled the world.”

“So I was just there. This dream wasn’t about me per se.”

“I mean you kissed me before you sent me into the future.”

“Oh. Um, I think that says more about you than me.”

“I wasn’t one to read too much into those sort of things. It’s just that after you broke it, my body was phasing in and out of the current timeflow. Did you mean to do that?”

“Lena, I’m sorry for whatever pain I caused you. I can’t say I blame you for trying to kill me after that.”

“You wanted me to shoot you. Was that a cry for help? Did you know?”

“I can’t fully say what Widowmaker wanted anymore. I have her memories, her skills, but not much else.”

“So you do still have Widowmaker’s abilities?” Lena asked.

“That’s what I’m lead to believe,” Ameile responded finishing up her hot chocolate.

“You can still snipe well? Do all your crazy jumping and flips and all that?”

“If my performance against Fareeha and Aleksandra was any indication, yes.”

“Does that mean you’re part of Overwatch now?” 

“I never said I was part of Overwatch.”

“Well what else are you going to do? You’re no use to Talon now. You might as well.”

“Lena, I don’t know if I can. I’ve just been a tool. Used and put away at people’s convenience. I was used to get at Gerard and used to carry out Talon’s dirty killings. Now, I’m back to being Ameile and I’m worried that I’m just gonna be used in whatever plans Overwatch has. My body’s been messed up so much it’s like I don’t have any freewill anymore. I didn’t ask for any of these things to happen to me. I’m sorry, but even with everything you guys are up against, I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just need to think about what to do with myself.”

Ameile went silent, going back to staring out at Lake Geneva. What am I to do? Ameile thought to herself. Was Overwatch the best choice? Right now they’re hiding out in a Swiss cabin. They’re not going to stand a chance if Talon ever found this place. And weren’t they on the run from the U.N. too? What would Gerard do in a time like this?

Lena just stared at the French woman. There was sadness on her face. She kept being thrust into scenarios not of her doing. And now she has the chance to fully make something of herself for the first time in years. Does Overwatch have the right to get in her way just because they could use her?

“Ameile,” Lena started back up with, pointing to the chronal accelerator. “Do you know why I have to wear this thing on my chest?”

“Talon had files on you,” Ameilse responded. “I know about the Slipstream.”

“The thing is, I never told anyone the full truth about what I saw. When I started to be disassociated from time.”

Ameile became intrigued at the idea. Why would she hide something anyone would want to tell everyone about? “Okay, you have my attention. What did you see?”

“The first thing I saw was just bright blue. Bright blue lights would appear whenever I was about to time travel. I ended up on a glacier. A giant, freezing glacier. It had to have been sometime during the Ice Age cause I remember the mammals being very hairy.”

“You were in the Ice Age?” Ameile interrupted, finding this hard to believe.

“I couldn’t control where I went to. If that wasn’t bad enough, my body wouldn’t always be opaque. Sometimes I would walk through the snow without leaving any tracks. Going through puddles without rippling the water. That’s what my body was capable of. And it frightened me. By God, I was only 18!”

“Of all the words I can think to describe you in any situation, terrified wouldn’t be one of them.”

“Of course I was. You would be too if,” Lena stopped as she realized Ameile was in that type of situation. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Ameile quickly got out of the way, fascinated by what Lena was saying. “Did you ever go to the future? Like in your dream?”

“I don’t know. I only recognized when it was colonial times and the Victorian era. World history wasn’t my strongest school subject, so I hardly recognized any of the places. If it was the future, I didn’t know, cause I’d end up in a forest or some place that looks like the now, only more futuristic.”

“So how did you manage to get back to our time?”

“It was just pure chance. One of my trips ended up at an Overwatch base. Winston heard about it and had me moved into a special containment room he had prepared. It was lined with panels that prevented me from slipping out of time, even though my body was still teleporting inside the room. I was held in there until Winston put the fine touches in this bad boy. And we’ve been inseparable ever since, though upgrades, malfunctions, and, well, damages. Of course, you know first hand how it turned my disassociation into something I can use to my advantage.”

Ameile was still enthralled with Lena’s story. How can someone who seems so constantly cheerful have gone through something so scary and still be sane? Or maybe she wasn’t. She couldn’t fully tell yet. Lena reached out and grabbed Ameile’s hands at the center of the table.

“Ameile, what I’m trying to say is life always throws us twists and turns we don’t see coming. I wasn’t expecting to get time travel powers, and you never thought you would be an assassin. Whatever life throws our way, we have to make the best of it. And just remember, we worked to bring you back to us because we couldn’t stand to see you working for the bad guys. I guess some people just love you too much.”

Ameile lunged over the table to hug Lena, knocking over the Brit’s hot chocolate. Her head was shoved into Lena’s shoulder, and she would only reply with a pat on the back, with that turning into a hug too.

“We should be going back now,” Lena suggested. “I’m sure Angela has more rehab stuff for you to go through.” The two ladies got up from their table and started making their way back out of town and up the mountain. 

“Lena,” Ameile asked. “How are you so chipper? You’ve seen the limits of human existence, all the cruelty humans can do. Wouldn’t that make anyone insane?”

“I like to think of it that I’ve seen all the good people are capable of,” Lena responded. “And it makes me glad to be in the same world as them. It’s like I always say, ‘the world could use more heroes.’”

 

4\. 

“What do you mean the junkers are gone?” Arendse questioned in disbelief.

“The Cameroonian military had a definite location on them,” Amirmoez tried to explain, “but only found their abandoned vehicles.”

“Abandoned vehicles? So they have to be somewhere then.”

“They did pick up a signature flying away from the site as they approached the vehicles. An airship of the same model Overwatch uses.”

Overwatch again, Arendse thought. They’ve had quite the symbiotic relationship with him. Overwatch goes out saving lives at very public events and the U.N. gets shit on for trying to properly deal with them. Never mind the latest P.R. disaster in Numbani, where Overwatch, again, saved the day where U.N. troops failed. But why work with these savages? What did they have to gain from it?

“Do we have any reason to believe why Overwatch would want to work with these criminals?”

“No, nothing yet.”

“Well get Australia on the horn and have them tell us how to deal with this miscreants! We can’t afford any more misplaced criminals.”

“Right away sir,” Amirmoez said as he left the room. Arendse cursed at himself. Why had he let his assistants dictate what he should do? It was because of them he was in these messes in the first place. The U.N. was becoming a laughing stock again.

“Sir, the Australian ambassador is on the line,” the voice of Amirmoez said over the intercom.

“Okay, put him up on the screen.”

The Australian ambassador, Ethan Harris, appeared on a screen in Arendse’s office. He wasn’t wearing a tie with his suit; he just left the top buttons on his collar open.

“G’day Mr. secretary,” Harris started out. “What can I do for you?”

“Mr. Harris, I’m sure you’re aware of the situation in Numbani with the junkers.”

“How could I not? Practically the whole world saw it.”

“Well, the thing is, Nigerian and Cameroonian troops tried following the junkers and all the sudden they just vanished. We think Overwatch may have something to do with it.”

“Oh, so we’re discussing Overwatch out in the open again, are we?”

“We might as well. As for the Junkers, we need to know how to properly deal with them, and I’m asking you given your firsthand experience dealing with the vandals.”

“Well, I’ll give you my opinion. If Overwatch is doing all the good we’re lead to believe they’ve been doing, the junkers are better off with them.”

“What?” Arendse said, talken about by this confusing answer. “What do you mean?”

“It’s the humble opinion of the Australian delegation that the junkers were framed by Talon. And no, it’s not because they’re our fellow countrymen.”

“What makes you all so sure?”

“If you go back and look at footage from the attacks in Numbani, you’ll see that none of the attacking Omnics had red lights coming off of their heads. There’s no way the junkers would’ve come up with technology to mask that. Also, need I remind you of the known Talon agents who were seen during the fighting? Like that Reaper fellow who tried to steal the doomfist gauntlet a while back?”

“If what you say is true, what do you think they’ll plan next?”

“The junkers are a very vengeful group of people, so my bet is that they’ll go after Talon, same as Overwatch.”

That could actually be worth something, Arendse pondered. If there’s a chance that we can find one of these groups, either Overwatch, Talon, or the junkers, the others won’t be far behind. 

“Mr. secretary, Taonga if I may, why are we beating this around the bush for so long?”

“What are you referring to?”

“Why doesn’t the U.N. just reinstate Overwatch?” 

The thought had definitely been on Arendse’s mind, but he couldn’t possibly make that move after he orders he gave regarding Gibraltar. It still caught him off guard hearing someone else in the U.N. bring up the idea.

“I mean, if these terror attacks continue,” Harris went on, “Overwatch is just going to keep showing up to stop them. Look at us even; we’re talking about them as if it’s already a regular occurrence. Why not repeal the Petras Act and make them official and all that?”

“Overwatch was dead weight, rotting from the inside. You remember how corrupt Reyes was making Blackwatch.”

“Well Reyes is dead and more importantly, he’s not with the members who’ve been showing up. The Petreas Act did a lot more harm than good, and you know that. What with how many terror groups there are and Omnics rising up again. Our standard U.N. troops aren’t good enough. And lord knows Overwatch saved the disasters in Lijiang and Numbani from becoming worse.”

“But we destroyed their Gibraltar base. How would we look if we let Overwatch operate legally again after that?”

“We’re part of the U.N., Taonga. Our decisions have never won everyone over. Remember all the hate we got when the Petreas Act first passed?”

Arendse did remember. The Act passed with much public criticism, with some U.N. members calling mainly for a reform of the organization, not outright outlawing it. Arsende was one of those individuals, and now he had to live with the far-reaching consequences of the Act.

“I’m just saying keep an open mind. Anyways, I’ll definitely try to find out where the junkers are heading. Just don’t be surprised if Overwatch is found with them trying to do some good. Transmission end.”

Arendse thought it over. What would really be the harm in bringing Overwatch officially back? Other than completely undermining a piece of global legislation? They had continued on despite their base being destroyed. Would it continue if they manage to destroy the next one? And besides, no recorded harm came directly from Overwatch’s hands. Not at the moment at least.

“Amirmoez,” Arendse said into his intercom. “Set me up a meeting with the task forces. And bring in any relevant delegations too. We have Overwatch business to discuss.”

 

5\. 

Hanzo stormed down the hallways of the Talon base, trying to remember where the Talon leaders had their meetings. He had come up with some choice words for this important decision. When he walked inside, Hanzo would tell them that he was finished with them. Nothing had worked out the way he wanted. With the defeats he endured in Lijiang and Numbani, his men did not deserve to be put through any more misery. 

Plus there was what Genji said to him as they fought in Numbani. What good was he doing by being here? For the good of the clan, he had said. If he had to resort to killing innocents in Talon’s random carnage for the good of anything, then it wasn’t worth saving to begin with. 

There was no honor in being part of Talon. 

Hanzo found the meeting room. Surely the people he was looking for would be inside. As he pushed open the doors, Hanzo saw the room in its same furniture arrangement as before. The only difference was instead of a group of shadowy figures sitting down, there was only one.

“Hello Hanzo,” Reaper said sitting at one of the chairs.

“Reaper, where are the other leaders?” Hanzo asked.

“I’m calling the shots for Talon now. They didn’t know what the right decisions to make were when it was staring them in the face.”

Hanzo quickly realized what Reaper meant. “You . . you killed them?”

“I’ve killed many to get where I am today. So anyway, what are you here for?”

Hanzo was shaken. Only the most heartless of Yakuza members he knew of would stoop to levels so low in order to gain what they wanted. He considered leaving the room entirely, forgetting any of this ever happened. But he needed to get this off his chest.

“Reaper, since you are the new head of Talon, I wish to tell you that I want no more part of this group.”

“Oh, I’m afraid I can’t allow that. We need all the manpower we can muster.”

“You already have all the manpower you need even without my men. And can’t you control Omnics now with that special program Sombra made?” 

“Overwatch has Widowmaker. For all we know, they could have tortured her for information on our base. We need to be prepared for when they inevitably come to our doorstep.”

“Either way, you can consider me out,” Hanzo said turning around to leave. Reaper just dematerialized and reappeared in front on him.

“I don’t think you understand what I’m talking about here,” Reaper continued threateningly. “Junkrat, Roadhog, and Symmetra are gone too. We can’t rely on the Junkers for anything after we threw them under the bus. The God program isn’t fully ready yet for worldwide use. Overwatch will be here any day now, and we need to be ready for when they show up.”

“What makes you so sure anyone will come to attack this place?” Hanzo questioned.

“If I learned anything from my time in Blackwatch, its when you get information about an enemy, you act on that immediately.”

Hanzo thought that with the way Reaper was talking to him, he would end up dead on the floor if he didn’t agree to what he was saying.

“So, do I have your cooperation going forward?”

“Only if you promise me Japan as we agreed upon before.”

“Yes of course. Now get out of here.”

Hanzo left the room and headed back to his quarters, thinking to himself what was the best way to kill this man when the time comes.

 

6.

In the early dawn, Ameile got up before everyone else in the quarters and went out for a morning run. There weren’t many roads for her to go down. Hell, all of them lead down the hill and into town. She figured going through some fields and woods would do fine. Just needed to make sure she didn’t end up too far.

This gave Ameile time to think things over. She still had the skills she was endued with as Widowmaker, which meant she would be a valuable asset to whoever could get their hands on her. Was this something she was capable of going through again? Would she ever be willing to take lives again? 

Ameile thought more about Lena had said before. About the world needing more heroes. She was no hero in her mind. Nothing could take away the horrible memories in her mind of what she’s done. But she didn’t want them to go away. She just wanted to come up with some way to prove she’s moved on. That she can be a different person. 

She wanted Gerard to be proud of whoever she ended up being.

At one point during her run, Ameile stopped as she saw a strange sight. An Omnic monk floating above the ground between some trees in a state of meditation. She recognized him as the one who was part of the team, hanging out mostly with Bastion and Genji. Zenyatta is his name, right? She approached him as to not disturb his meditative state.

“Um, excuse me, Zenyatta, right?” Ameile asked the monk.

Zenyatta broke out of his state and saw the woman. “Ah Ameile, what a pleasure to see you.”

“I didn’t mean to interrupt, I just didn’t think no one else would be up this early.”

“Nothing to worry about. I always enjoy the company of humans.”

“What are you doing out here so far from the base?”

“This is a peaceful spot for meditation. I could ask the same of you.”

“I was on a morning jog. Trying to clear my mind.” 

“You are welcome to join me then in helping clear your thoughts. I imagine they’ve been racing since you joined us.”

Ameile sat in the dirt across from Zenyatta as he resumed his meditation pose. She tried to make the same position he was in.

“Um, Zenyatta” Ameile asked. “How do I do this?”

“You just close your eyes and breathe deep in and out, clearing your mind of any harmful thoughts.”

Ameile took the Omnics advice and closed her eyes. Breathing in and out, she could see the missions she was on as Widowmaker. Most prominent was King’s Row, where she fought with Lena and managed to kill Mondatta. She remembered the feelings stirring inside her of that night. The anger she saw on Lena’s face after the monk was dead. And how alive she felt after the kill. Ameile tried pushing that memory out, breathing in and out harder and faster, but it still kept popping up. Eventually Ameile just gave up and opened her eyes back up, seeing the monk in relative peace.

“Zenyatta,” Ameile started her question with, “if you don’t mind me asking. After I killed Mondatta,”

“You did not kill Mondatta.” Zenyatta said breaking out of his state again. “The woman known as Widowmaker did, who no longer exists.”

“Like it or not, these are the hands that pulled the trigger that killed him.”

“But you as a person had no control over what you did. I refuse to believe someone with as much of a kind heart as I’ve heard about would do such a thing.”

“Anyway, after he died, what did the other Shambali monks do?”

“Naturally, we were in mourning over the loss of our brother. But since none of the other monks were as skilled in healing the rift between humans and Omnics, we were left powerless to stop the escalating Omnic hostilities. So we fled to our sanctuary in Nepal. I was among them, along with my students Genji and Bastion. And so we stayed until were greeted with Angela Ziegler’s and Lena Oxton’s presence.” 

Ameile’s heart sank. She hadn’t fully realized the consequences of her actions. She practically reignited a war Overwatch had worked so hard to prevent.

“I just want to say I’m sorry for what I did.”

“Again, you didn’t do that. Besides, it doesn’t matter now what you’ve done in your past, as Ameile or Widowmaker, but what you do with yourself now.” 

“That’s the thing. I don’t know what to do. Everyone wants me to join Overwatch, but I don’t think I can bring myself to that. Going out having to kill people again just in the name of a mission. I don’t know if anyone else from my past life still wants me or even remembers who I am. And what if Talon captures me again? Would they force me through the same tortures to turn me back into Widowmaker? I just don’t know.”

Zenyatta took a moment to take in all of Ameile’s concerns. “There seems to be plenty of chaos in your soul.”

“Sometimes, I wish I had gone through with it completely and ended my life after the surgery.”

“Don’t say that Ameile. You just have yet to rediscover what your purpose is.”

“Lena told me that the world could use more heroes. Given all the good you’ve all done, I don’t know if I can live up to that.”

“You remind me so much of Genji when I first met him. His past life was spent gallivanting around the world seducing women while wasting his family’s fortune. Then he had extensive injuries where he needed Omnic implants. He was part of Overwatch for a while after that, but never felt whole with being half-human, half-Omnic. He felt lost, that neither community would accept him wholly. So when Genji came to me for spiritual guidance, I told him that the key to existence is to balance out the chaos and harmony within ourselves. Both have their uses in improving our stature. That was also the dilemma the Omnics faced after the first crisis ended. We had spent so much of our existence either doing menial labor or fighting in a great war that when it was all over, when our freewill was firmly established, we weren’t sure what to do at first. It was too foreign a concept for us. But yet, through all the adversity thrown at us by humans, we managed to survive on our own for the time being.”

Ameile fell silent to absorb everything the monk had said. She surely wasn’t the only being living through an identity crisis and she won’t be the last. 

“Now Ameile,” Zenyatta continued, “this is something you ultimately have to decide for yourself. But if what I’ve been hearing about you is true, that you still possess the skills Widowmaker had, it would be a shame for you to let them go to waste. The only difference being you using them for good, but again, I understand you need time to think on matter.”

“Thank you Zenyatta,” Ameile responded, satisfied with the help she received. She got up and started to make her way back. “I definitely need to think more. I’ll see you back at the base.”

“Just to let you know,” Zenyatta called out before Ameile left his sight. “I plan on joining the other Overwatch members when they make their next attack on Talon. I imagine everyone will be needed for this.”

Ameile ran back off through the woods, trying to remember which directions she took to make her way here.

 

7.

“Okay team,” Winston said in the base’s meeting room with a map behind him, “if our Intel is correct, then Talon’s base should be here, in the Pyrenees Mountains on the border between France, Spain, and Andorra.”

All the other Overwatch members, along with some of the Junkers, were in attendance in the cramped meeting space. Ameile told Winston earlier that she would be late, if she wanted to show up at all. 

“To go over what we have so far,” Winston continued, “our main goal is to eliminate Reaper and the other Talon heads. It would completely topple Talon over once and for all as far as we’re concerned. The task of going inside to eliminate the targets belongs to Jack, Lena, Angela, Ana, Satya, Genji, and Jesse. Outside the base, the junkers, myself, Reinhardt, Lucio, Hana, Torbjorn, Aleksandra, Mei, Bastion, Fareeha, and Zenyatta will lead any Talon troops out of the base and taken them out, giving our strike team all the room they need to operate.”

“How many troops can we expect to fight?” Roadman brought up.

“Whatever ones who weren’t killed or arrested in Numbani,” Winston said. “It could be in the hundreds we’re dealing with.”

“So how do we take out Gabriel?” Ana asked. “He’s nearly indestructible considering he can fade into smoke.”

“Angela was working on something to try and take his powers away, isn’t that right?” Jack brought up.

“I have been working on something,” Angela responded. “His body constantly repairs itself because of some malfunctioning nanobots I used to heal him. I developed a solution to neutralize them. But I haven’t gotten a chance to fully test it since I’ve been observing Ameile.”

“I imagine this will be a good time to test it out as any,” Jack replied.

“Satya,” Winston directed towards her, “do you remember enough of the base to lead the strike team to where they need to go?”

“I can to the best of my memory,” Satya replied. 

“It is a good plan, but you need more than that to defeat Talon,” the team could hear the voice of Ameile say even though she wasn’t in the room.

“Ameile, you can come in if you want to,” Winston said. “Any help will be appreciated.”

“Satya’s experience is severely lacking. The rest of you don’t know a single speck of the place from firsthand experience. You don’t know where the soldier’s quarters are, where there might be traps set up for something like this, or even where you will find the leaders. You need someone who knows the place inside and out.”

“Ameile, just come inside so you can tell us.”

Ameile stepped into the room to continue talking. But the team was shocked at the sight of her. She was wearing her purple skintight Widowmaker suit, holding the Widow’s kiss rifle, and adorning her infrared visor. Everyone became confused and frightened.

“Relax everyone,” Ameile said reassuringly. “I’m still Ameile. If I wasn’t, somebody would be hurt by now.”

“Ameile, why?” Ana asked. “Why the outfit again?”

“We’re going into war, aren’t we? Best I wear my uniform for the occasion. Plus, I want Talon to see me as I was when they’re finally taken down.” 

“Are you sure about this?” Angela brought up. “We haven’t done enough tests to see if you’re stable yet.”

“I’ve thought about this long and hard, and I haven’t been this sure about anything in a long time.”

“Glad to have you on board,” Jack said.

“I do owe you all my life for saving me. The least I can do is be part of the team my husband was so proud of. Oh and Winston, in all seriousness, I have some ideas you’d be wise to take me up on. It may take a while longer to prepare, but I’m sure they’ll be worth it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack: 
> 
> Blasphemous Rumors - Depeche Mode
> 
> Gold Dust Woman - Fleetwood Mac
> 
> Free - Broods


	10. Encore Une Fois

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle between Overwatch/their allies and Talon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is by far the longest chapter of this story.

1.

The Overwatch ship had been dead silent since it took off. And now, as it entered the Pyrenees mountain range, the team of Overwatch and junkers kept their minds on the mission at hand more than ever.

The team had decided to implement some of Ameile’s ideas into the main plan. The basics remained the same. The junkers would attack the Talon base and draw enemy fire before the strike team would get inside the deep workings. But now, Ameile would infiltrate the base first, maintaining the guise she was still Widowmaker, but no longer blue because of Overwatch tortures. Once inside, she would provide intel on the current base conditions, locations, and where to find Reaper and the Talon leaders. 

Plenty of the members questioned whether Ameile was mentally capable of going through with her plans. Ameile urged them all that she was fine thanks to Lena and Zenyatta. She would no doubt have some trauma come back to her from being at the Talon base again, but there was no use running. She wanted to charge at Talon head-on with everyone else. 

Ameile was sitting beside Lena next to the hatch door, looking straight ahead. Through the crowd of standing junkers, she could see Ana sitting next to Reinhardt, who wasn’t wearing his helmet. She kept scolding the giant German how stupid this was going into battle not fully armored, but Reinhardt’s logic was that if this will be the last time Overwatch and Talon would truly fight each other, no matter who wins, he wanted his face out there.

“Ana,” Ameile called out through the crowd. “I’m very sorry for what I did to your eye.” 

“You have no need to be,” Ana replied, breaking from her talk with Reinhardt. “It’s part of who I am now.” 

“But I ruined your life. You used to be the best sniper in the world.” 

“If either of us were really the best, we wouldn’t be working together now, wouldn’t we?”

Ameile reclined back into her chair, closing her eyes and trying to get focused. Lena noticed her humming to herself, rocking her head side to side. Compared to the other songs she sang to herself before, this one was simple, bouncy, and had no words.

“Oi, Ameile,” Lena said to get her attention. “You never answered my questions.”

“Questions?” Ameile said confused. “From when?”

“From when I was interrogating you? You know. Why did you call me Cherie and what’s with the songs you were singing?”

“You were my only enemy who presented a challenge. I thought you deserved your own nickname. Cherie is French for sweetheart.” 

“Sweeheart?”

“Yes. As for the songs? Those were some of Gerard’s favorites.”

“What about what you were humming there? Is that one of his favorites too?”

“No, it’s one of mine. I used it to get me pumped up before a ballet performance.”

“Okay Ameile, we’re at your point,” Winston said from the cockpit. “Get ready.”

“Roger,” Ameile replied. At that cue, she pulled out a contact lens case out of one of the bags at her feet. Twisting the caps off, she tooks the lenses out of the fluid, and placed them on her eyes, giving the irises the same yellow color from when she was Widowmaker. She blinked a few times to make sure they were comfortable.

“How do I look?” Ameile asked Lena.

“They’re the same color alright,” Lena replied, staring into the eyes. “I think you’re in the clear.”

Torbjorn was looking at the ship’s computer screen. It showed Ameile’s vision, with Lena waving at her eyes.

“The camera lenses are working,” Torbjorn said in delight. “You’re free to head out.” 

The ship landed on the French side of the border with Northeastern Andorra, one of the few parts of the mountain range with proper roads going through it. From here, Ameile would go on foot to the north end of base.

“Good luck,” everyone said as Ameile disembarked. “And remember,” Ana added, “don’t lose your head in there.”

She waved back at the group before making her way. The ship took off to the next dropoff point. It was a few kilometers southwest to a place where the junkers would have a more straightforward path through the valley. 

“Alright junkers, you’re next,” Winston said, giving them their cue once the door opened. 

“Promise me you’ll be careful,” Satya told Jamie as the junkers were about to leave.

“Careful isn’t in my vocabulary,” Jamie replied. “How else are we gonna blow open a path for you?”

“Well, take this with you,” Satya said as she proceeded to shine a light from her metal hand at Jamie’s face. She did the same motion on to Mako and the rest of the junkers.

“What was that for?”

“A hard-light shield. It’s invisible and will protect you all from incoming enemy fire.” 

“I was expecting another kiss from you, but that’ll do nicely.”

“Try and stay alive and you may get that.”

The junkers disembarked and marched on, hollering and holding their weapons up high, making their way down the warpath.

“Alright team, now we wait,” Winston said, waiting for the attack to start.

Ameile kept trying to keep herself calm as she walked down the roads, her infrared visor helping her see through the darkness. Some memories she had of being at this base came back to her. There were the torture devices used not only on her, but other Talon prisoners. She remembered being trained in use of her sniper rifle by taking far-away shots through the mountains. Shots she didn’t want to take because her mind was still partly Ameile’s. Not to mention when they moved her onto killing people as part of her training.

No, Ameile thought. Can’t have that on my mind now. I need to focus. Think of something else.

Another memory popped into her head, but it was of Gerard this time. She was backstage at the Palais Garnier in Paris, her performance as the lead in Cinderella drawing respectable applause from the crowd. Her fellow dancers thought her performance was exceptional, but Ameile kept beating herself up about some moves she thought needed improvement. She sat in front of her dressing mirror, changing out of her ballet dress into street clothes, cursing at herself.

“Hey Ameile” one of the stage managers shouted making his way through the backstage crowd in French. “Someone wants to see you.” 

“Who?” Ameile asked.

“Just someone in the crowd.” 

“Okay, make it quick.”

The manager motioned through the crowd, indicating for someone to come over. The man walking through was wearing a military uniform with some badges and patches on the jacket, indicating he was an Overwatch member.

“So, you’re Ameile Blanchett?” the man said to her, continuing the conversation in French.

“That’s what my name says on the program,” Ameile said before turning and realizing the man who came to see her was. “Ah, what do we have here? An Overwatch soldier?”

“Yes, an active duty one.”

“You’re taking time out of your job just to see my show?”

“Any show happening at the Palais Garnier is an event. And I must say, you’re the most exquisite Cinderella I’ve seen.”

“Oh stop it, Mr. military man. My performance could’ve been much better.”

“Really? I don’t see how it could’ve been better. I’ve been to many ballets in my time, and I don’t think I’ve seen a dancer perform so well.”

“Someone is quite the sweet talker.”

“I’d love to talk to you more over dinner, if you have the time, of course.”

“Well, I don’t have anything planned until tomorrow night’s show. Where did you have in mind?

“There’s a café down the street along the Rue des Petits Champs I’ve been meaning to try out. I just couldn’t anyone to try it out with me.”

“Well,” Ameile said finally getting up from her seat and approaching the man, “Mr. . . what’s your name? You never told me.”

“It’s Gerard. Gerard Lacroix.”

“Well Mr. Lacroix,” Ameile said curling her arm around Gerard’s, “I would be honored to take you up on that offer.”

Ameile became aware of her reality again, that she was walking towards the Talon base in the Pyrenees Mountains. Why did I come up with this idea? she thought to herself. The rest of the team should not have agreed to this. Angela was right. I’m not in the right state of mind. Talon’s gonna see through this con and capture me all over again. This won’t work. The mission will be a failure.

Then Ameile thought more about Gerard. All the times he brought her to Overwatch bases. Introduced her to the other agents. Told her about the missions he went on. Saying how he was proud to be part of an organization working to achieve world peace. The words Lena said to her appeared in her head too. The world could use more heroes.

Well, there’s only one way to prove if I’m a hero, Ameile thought. And she could see it just ahead of her.

There, lying on a flat plain just over the border into Andorra, was the Talon base.

The majority of Talon facilities were underground, with only a few makeshift shacks and giant doors that opened from below were the only ways people could get inside. They still didn’t take many chances with people getting on the grounds, which was why a tall chain link fence with barb-wire aligning the top was erected and numerous sentry points dotted along it’s path.

It was a place Ameile had been at too many times for her liking.

Okay, Ameile kept thinking to herself, continuing to walk towards the gate in her path. Just try to act like how you did before. You can remember how to do that. Don’t show emotion. How hard can that be?

As the French woman approached the gate, the guards didn’t immediately pay attention at first, looking in other directions. But they certainly saw a woman in a purple bodysuit approaching once enough light was on her.

“Someone’s approaching,” one of the Talon guards said as he aimed his rifle. “Identify yourself!”

“At ease soldier,” Ameile said turning her infrared visor off, hoping her ruse would work and the guards would recognize her.

“I said identify yourself!”

“You don’t recognize Widowmaker when you see her?”

“Widowmaker? but you’re not,”

“Yeah I know I’m not blue. Just get Reaper out here and I’ll explain everything.”

The guard reached for his communicator. “Reaper, Widowmaker is back. But she’s, um, different somehow. She asked to see you.”

Some buzzing from the communicator indicated that Reaper allowed Ameile to pass.

“You may enter ma’am,” the guard said.

“As I rightfully should,” Ameile retorted, walking past the opened gate and onto the base’s grounds. It was just as how she remembered. Guards on patrol wandering the dirt grounds covered in Talon black and armed with heavy duty submachine guns.

One of the metal openings leading underground opened up, it’s metal-like teeth revealing a ramp. Reaper and more troops marched up to the surface. They weren’t going to take any chances.

“Look her over,” Reaper said as he approached the woman with some Talon men giving her the patdown. He immediately noticed what was off about his former associate.

“What happened to you?” Reaper asked. “How come you’re no longer blue?”

“Overwatch did this to me,” Ameile said trying to emulate Widowmaker’s tone to the best of her ability. “As means of torture. Trying to get valuable Talon information out of me. See this scar along my chest? They injected something into me that turned my skin back to normal. But I didn’t crack. I didn’t tell them anything of value.”

Reapers attention was drawn to Ameile’s right arm, where the scabs surrounding the tattoo had yet to fully heal. “What happened here?” he pointed out.

“That was from my first escape attempt,” Ameile lied. “That girl who pilots the pink mech tried stopping me with scratches.”

“So, how did you manage to escape?”

“Take me inside and I’ll tell you everything.”

Reaper was initially hesitant. Even in their current weakened state, it was close to impossible to successfully escape Overwatch custody. He had helped put an end to some escape attempts himself. This was also clearly not the same Widowmaker he previously knew. Her face was the same, her tattoos matched up, her eyes were still yellow, she even filled out the bodysuit perfectly. But there must have been something else different too.

“Alright, bring her in,” Reaper ordered.

Ameile was lead to one of the shacks, a cover for an elevator leading to the underground base. The Talon soldiers who came up with Reaper kept a constant watch on her. Why are they taking me this way? Ameile thought. 

“So what did I miss since I’ve been away?” Ameile asked. “Are Talon’s plans still on schedule?”

“Ahead of schedule actually,” Reaper stated. “The God program is almost ready for worldwide deployment. With that, we can take over the minds of susceptible Omnics everywhere. We’re still on track for building our own Omniums. And we’re working on raiding other Omniums too.”

“Ahead of schedule? What changed?” 

“Let’s just say the Talon leaders finally saw the light and put me in charge of operations.”

“You in charge? How?”

“Like I said. They saw the light.”

Ameile knew Reaper liked to make death puns when bragging about killing someone. If he did kill the other Talon leaders as she suspected, then Overwatch’s job just got a whole lot easier.

But Ameile noticed something wrong as Reaper didn’t lead her back to her old quarters. Instead, he lead her to a prison area, lined with classic steel bars-type cells and giant monitors. More Talon guards were waiting for them. 

“We have a new set of quarter’s made for you,” Reaper told Ameile.

“Reaper,” Ameile said immediately worried for herself. “This a cell.”

“I know. We can’t take any chances of having a spy in our midst.”

Two of the soldiers grabbed Ameile by her arms, forcing her into the cell. She tried exuding some of her strength to escape, but she was too-caught-off-guard to do it properly. 

“Reaper, you can’t do this me! We’re teammates!”

“Why don’t you tell me what Overwatch really did with you, partner? And where they are right now?”

“They only did the skin! That’s it! I swear I’m telling the truth!”

“If whoever came up with this plan had any brains, they’d try to mask your heart rate. It’s back to that of a normal human. And maybe it changed parts of your brain back to normal too. Otherwise, why would you be afraid of my threats?”

Reaper walked towards the cell door, pulling out one of his shotguns and aiming it through the bars. Ameile just remained in her spot, staring at the gun, determining not to break character again.

“So I’ll ask you again, Ameile. Where is Overwatch right now?”

“Reaper,” a voice coming in from one of the room’s speakers said. “We have a situation happening up here.”

“What is it?” Reaper responded unhappy with being interrupted.

“Junkers are approaching the gates, sir.”

“Damn,” Reaper replied. These Overwatch people are good. I’m on my way,” and he made his way out of the cellblock with some of the troops. “Keep watching her,” he directed towards the remaining guards.

As Reaper reached the surface, he saw all the Talon guards gathered around the base’s Southern entrance. The junkers were lined outside the gate, rattling the fences and hollering.

“What are you freaks doing?” Reaper scolded at the Australians from the other side of the fence. “How did you find this place?”

“Junkrat, of course,” Roadman shouted back. “You really shouldn’t let your teammates run off like that.”

“Do you really think you few can take on the might of Talon?”

“We junkers have fought against bigger odds and came out on top.”

“Execute them,” Reaper said to the Talon soldiers, paying no mind to the junkers anymore. They raised their rifles and were ready to fire.

“Fire in the hole!” both sides heard from a distance. The junkers cleared a path to the gate. A remote controlled tire with spikes on it was rolling down a hill straight for where the Talon troops were standing inside the fence.

“Get out of the way!” several Talon troops shouted as they ran away from the fence. The tire exploded when it made contact with the fence’s metal, taking out the slow Talon men in the blast. The junkers charged through the gap into the base, immediately starting to shoot up anyone in black that moved. Jamie and Mako followed behind. 

“We’re lighting up the base now,” Jamie said on his earpiece. “We could use backup any time now.”

“Roger that,” Winston replied from the ship, ready to take back off. “We’re going in, team.”

Winston piloted the ship through the mountains, having the hatch open. When the base was finally in their sight, Fareeha and Aleksandra were the first to jump out, firing rockets and photon energy before they hit the ground. Reinhardt, Bastion, Hana, and Lucio followed suit, with Zenyatta, Winston, Torbjorn, and Mei coming out once the ship landed. Through all the destruction caused on both sides, their main goal was to clear a path for the strike team. Protected by Reinhardt’s shields, Mei’s ice walls, Aleksandra’s shields, and the turret fire from Torbjorn and Bastion, the group of Jack, Ana, Lena, Angela, Jesse, Genji, and Satya quickly made their way to one of the giant closed doors. Jack tried busting it open with his pulse rifle, with no success. None of the other members could help him as they were staving off enemy fire.

“We need some explosives,” Jack declared. “Get Junkrat over here!”

Satya ran off from the group to find Jamie. She found him laughing while stuffing a grenade into the mouth of a Talon soldier caught in a beartrap.

“Jamie, we need your explosives to get inside,” Satya quickly told him.

“On it!” Jamie replied following her. When they reached the door, Jamie placed some bombs along the center, and urging everyone to run away. They did the trick as a giant hole in the door appeared once Jamie pushed the detonator. The strike team was in the clear and ran towards the opening.

“Stay safe out here,” Satya told Jamie, giving him a kiss before she ran off. Jamie briefly wondered what happened to her so-called “professionalism” before getting back into the battle.

Ameile’s guards were watching the fighting happen on the monitors while also keeping an eye on her. She knew this was the best chance she was going to get.

“Despite what Reaper says,” Ameile tried to convince her guards. “You should probably let me out of here.”

“No can do,” one of the guards replied. “We have our orders.”

“Talon needs all the help they can get. You’re of no use guarding me, you should be out there.”

“Ma’am, Reaper has already killed plenty of men who’ve disobeyed him. I don’t want to be next on that list.”

“What if I give you a peek at something?” Ameile said rubbing her suit’s material around her breasts. 

“Don’t try anything funny!” a guard said aiming his gun towards the cell door.

“Alright, suit yourself,” Ameile said as she launched a purple poison mine from her wrist gauntlet, causing the purple smoke to spew around the cellblock and choke the guards. She then shot her grabbling hook at the guard holding the Widow’s Kiss, piercing clean through his neck. She pulled hard on her rope, flinging the body and rifle towards her. The rifle slid just under the cell door, which Ameile used to fire a few rounds at the door’s lock to open it. Once out of her cell, with her heart racing, she fired a few more to make sure her guards were dead.

Ameile took a few moments to regain her composure. It was the first time she’s killed since her Talon conditioning broke. She expected to cry when that inevitable point did arrive. But she didn’t. Her mind was too focused on reuniting with the strike team and leading them further into the base.

It’s for the good of the world, Ameile thought to herself, putting her earpiece in. The team’s going to save it. We’re going to save it. I’ll have to kill more along the way.

“Team, I’m in a cell block right now,” Ameile told the others through her earpiece. “Did you get everything I saw?”

“We sure did Ameile,” she heard the voice of Lena say. “Can you give us a location?”

“Cell block 4. It should be close to one of the entrances.” 

“Alrighty then. Satya is leading the way. Stay tight. See you shortly.”

Lena’s voice cut off and Ameile was along again with her thoughts. She looked at the fight happening outside on the monitors. Despite the superior Talon numbers, Overwatch and the junkers were still holding their own. Bastion was rolling around in tank formation with Zenyatta behind him glowing bright and proclaiming, “Pass into the Iris!” Torbjorn was running around setting up his turrets wherever he could manage to find room. Fareeha and Hana were firing at some troops caught in both a gravity well and a circle of ice. And Reinhardt was running across the grounds like a man possessed, convinced this would be the last fight of his life and trying to make the most of it.

Ameile was in awe of how well this was going. Maybe Talon would be destroyed this night. And Overwatch would stand on the charred remains.

Ameile heard some gunshots in the hallways, followed by some “umphs”. After a few seconds, the strike team was standing in the doorway.

“Aye, did you miss us?” Lena exclaimed.

“More than you can know,” Ameile replied.

“What happened?” Jack said with displeasure. “You were supposed to be taken to your old quarters.”

“Reaper saw right through my lies. He knows this is all Overwatch’s doing.”

“I’d imagine he does. Given the way he fled back inside here, he must have something big prepared for us.”

“The plan’s still on. I know exactly where to go,” Ameile said rushing towards the door, leading out into the labyrinth of hallways. “Follow me.”

“Wait Ameile,” Angela held her back from going too far ahead. “Are you sure you’re okay? You killed all these soldiers, right?” 

“Well I had to get out of my cell somehow. Now let’s get moving!”

Ameile led the group of Jack, Angela, Lena, Genji, Ana, Satya, and Jesse down the hallways that quickly turned into a long and winding maze. She remembered where the Talon leaders would normally have their meetings, the boardroom on the fifth level down, but with Reaper in charge now, he probably moved his space somewhere else. It certainly wouldn’t be his quarters either, so Ameile needed to think of where someone like Reaper would hide and plan. And she needed to think of where quick, lest the team got trapped.

“Wait,” Jack said, stopping the group. Ahead of them, they saw Hanzo, armed with his bow running off in the hallways as aimless as them.

“Hanzo?” Genji said quietly. “What could he be up to?”

“Does he know we’re here?” Angela asked.

“With all the commotion outside, he’s probably suspicious. I’ll see where he’s heading.”

Genji moved quietly ahead of the group, drawing his sword to fend off any attackers. He turned a corner Hanzo went down and didn’t see anything. He turned back around to see Hanzo aiming his bow.

“What are you doing here Genji?” Hanzo asked ready to loosen his grip on the bow at any time.

“Brother, my friends and I are here to stop Talon once and for all,” Genji said as the rest of the team came up to see the situation.

“You’re all here to kill Reaper?” Hanzo asked everyone, loosening his bow and putting the arrow back in his quiver.

“That’s our plan,” Jack replied.

“Then I wish to help.” 

“Brother?” Genji said confused. “You want to help us?”

“Talon’s been a complete mess in my time here. Reaper’s going to drive this place into the ground. It’s best we do it quickly.”

“I’m sure we can find some use for you,” Jack said, again urging the group to move forward to their objective.

“I know where he would be in a situation like this. Follow me,” Hanzo said now taking charge. He and Ameile lead further down the hallways, and it took him a while to notice that the woman beside used to be Widowmaker.

“Widowmaker?” Hanzo said after taking a good look at Ameile. “What happened to you?”

“Overwatch made me normal again,” she replied. “And my name’s Ameile. I want to see Talon destroyed just like you.”

“It’s good knowing you found your lost humanity.”

“I don’t know if it’s all back yet. Is it true that Reaper killed all the other Talon leaders?”

“Yes he did. I found that out as I demanded to leave. Your friends up above will have my men’s assistance as soon as they reach the surface.”

“Much obliged,” McCree shouted from behind. “But you owe me an apology for shooting at my metal arm back in Lijiang.”

“Hola, Overwatch,” a feminine Spanish-sounding voice came over the hallways speakers. The team stopped in their tracks to process. “You’ve organized quite the assault here.”

“Sombra,” Ameile and Satya said at the same time, their minds in sync with what the upcoming challenge meant.

“I know where you are and I can hear your every move. Now, you have someone of particular interest to me. Uno Satya Vaswani. Did you forget our arrangement?”

“No Sombra, I haven’t forgotten,” Satya replied into the empty abyss of hallways, unsure of how the mysterious Mexican could hear her.

“You betrayed our trust abandoning us this way. Once you’re all dead, I’ll reveal all of Vishkar’s wrongdoings to the world.” 

“Why don’t you reveal them now? You can spare myself from doing that.”

“Oooh. Sounds like someone has gone ultra-rogue.”

“Why don’t you face us? It’s Reaper we’re all here for, not you. I’m sure we can come to an agreement.”

“What use do I have for you? Even without Reaper, I will become queen of the world with all the Omnics by my side. Even now, I’m activating all of the ones we manufactured and sending them to the surface. A few more will greet you in a few minutes. Darse prisa (Make haste) Overwatch. I’ll be speaking to you again soon.” 

Sombra’s voice cut out and the hallways became dead silent again.

“Any of you know about computers?” Satya asked the group, forming a plan in her head.

“That would be Winston,” Lena replied. “He stopped the first Talon hacking on Gibaltar.”

“Okay, I can work with that,” Satya said before speaking into her earpiece. “Winston, we need you down here. Sombra’s going to activate the God program on a massive scale.”

“Understood,” Winston replied, with the sounds of metal getting crushed and gunfire in the background. “Umph! She’s definitely activated the ones up here. I’ll be dropping in momentarily.”

“We need to move, now,” Jack urgently said, heading out ahead of the group. “Gabriel is still the main objective.” 

“Jack, don’t go so far ahead,” Angela called out. “We need to stick together.”

“The faster we find where Gabe holed himself up in, the faster we can,” Jack was cut off as he turned left down a hallway. He came face to face with a group of 5 Omnics heading his way. Unflapped, he brought up his pulse rifle and shot a helix grenade down their way, destroying them.

“We need to move now! There’s only gonna be more,” Jack shouted charging headfirst. The rest of the team had no choice but to follow.

Sure enough, after taking some more turns and going further down, the group of 9 did find themselves surrounded by Omnics on both sides. 

“Preparemonos para la fiesta!” (Let’s get ready to rumble!) the voice of Sombra shouted over the unseen speakers, as the Omnics moved in. Thinking on her feet, Satya quickly formed two circular laser turrets on the ceiling’s edges to their right, blasting any Omnics who got too close to them. The rest of the team shot at the left to clear a path through. As they continued to make their way running down the hallways, more Omnics were unleashed to catch them. Satya kept setting up the turrets as quickly as she could, but they could only take out 3 to 4 Omnics at a time before being destroyed. Eventually, Hanzo fell back behind the group and aimed his bow at the oncoming Omnics, shouting “Ryuu ga wga teki wo kurau!” and unleashing the blue dragons. The Omnics chasing them were no longer an issue, but more were still in the group’s way.

Both sides could hear a faint rumble from the floors above them. At first, they paid no mind to it, but the rumbling kept getting louder and louder. Then it started to sound like crashing. Finally, the source revealed itself to be Winston, breaking through the floors and crashing the ceiling onto the Omnics.

“Looks like I dropped in at the right spot,” Winston proudly proclaimed, standing over the crushed Omnics. “Now who needed my services?”

“I do,” Satya replied. “We need to find where Sombra is and disable the God program.”

“Can do. Do you know where that may be?”

“Yes, I’ll lead you there.”

“Looks like this is where we separate again,” Winston said as he and Satya ran off. The group of now eight was left to find Reaper on their own.

Going further into the base, they ended up discovering something in a big chamber. The prototype Omnium Talon had been developing. It was nowhere near as big as the professionally made ones, but had the basic components inside what appeared to be giant silver boxes. A conveyor belt out of the other side had Omnics lined up ready to battle, though they weren’t moving.

“Come find me if you dare,” Reaper’s voice echoed in the chamber. He was somewhere in here.

“These Omnics don’t have any of the sensors on their necks,” Angela looked over the machines. “They’re probably somewhere else on their bodies.”

“Maybe Winston and Satya got did their job already,” Jack remarked. “Otherwise, these would be at us right now.”

“Your souls are ripe for the taking,” Reaper’s voice echoed again.

“Search all around here,” Jack ordered. “We need to find Gabe and end this.”

The team split up and made their separate ways around the giant chamber. Ameile grapple hooked up to the walkways above. She activated the infrared visor, trying to get a better location on her former comrade. “Allez, montre-toi,” (Come on, show yourself), she whispered, twirling around to locate the man. She could swear she felt it getting colder around her. And she thought she could see smoke gathering around her feet. 

“Traitor,” Ameile could hear Reaper’s voice whisper in her ear. Then she felt a sharp pain in her leg. Reaper had been behind Ameile, and he just shot her. He pushed the weakened Ameile off from her perch, landing on the floor on her shot leg. 

“Ameile,” Angela shouted, flying over to care for her, immediately using her staff to care for the wounds. More shotgun blasts could be heard around the chamber, followed by screams from Jesse and Hanzo. Angela flew in their direction before she was finished with Ameile. Reaper finally appeared for everyone to see on top of Omnium, out of his usual cloud of smoke. 

“I’ve come to claim what is mine!” the man in black shouted.

“And what would that be?” Jack replied.

“My revenge!” Reaper jumped down and started spinning around, firing off his shotguns, managing to hit Jack and Genji. In his immediate vicinity, only Lena remained standing, blinking around the room as the two engaged in a shootout.

“This is when Gabriel Reyes finally gets his time,” Reaper shouted as he seemed to pull shotguns out of nowhere to continue fighting Lena. “He finally steps out of the shadow of Overwatch and the Talon flunkies who held him down.” He finally managed to land a shot on Lena, floating over to her to make his final shot. “And after that, he’ll cleanse the earth of the wretched.”

Suddenly, Reaper felt something sharp stick through his robe and into the back of his neck. Upon grasping and pulling it out, he found a dart meant to hold some liquid inside. He immediately knew the culprit.

“Ana, what do you hope to accomplish?” Reaper shouted into the darkness. “Your numbers are dwindling.”

“Wait for it, you bastard.” Ana whispered as he hid above the fray, keeping her scope on the man. “Get on it Angela.”

With a loud triumph, Angela shouted out from above, “Heroes never die!” A stream of nanobots poured out of her staff and dispersed throughout the room, quickly healing the wounded. 

“Your souls will be mine yet.”

“No Gabe,” Jack shouted, the first to get back up. He fired a helix rocket, knocking Reaper back towards a wall. “Angela’s serum should be taking hold now.”

Reaper noticed something wrong. The blast from the helix rocket actually hurt him. Hurt him enough to have a hard time standing back up. He couldn’t feels his wounds healing. When Reaper tried disintegrating into smoke, he was unable to. And everyone became fully healed.

“Everybody, take your shot!” 

Reaper tried dodging every projectile coming his way, but to no avail. Whether it came from Hanzo’s bow, Jesse’s six-shooter, Ana’s biotic darts, Genji’s shuriken, Ameile’s rifle, or Lena’s pistols, Reaper felt something from everyone hitting him. Nothing he or his mysteriously appearing shotguns could do to delay the inevitable. Somehow, after all these years, he was vulnerable again. And with that vulnerability came defeat. All his body could do was collapse at the chamber’s center.

Everyone circled around the bleeding body of Reaper, waiting for true death to take him out of this world. Jack took off his visor and reached down to unhook the latches of Reaper’s mask. Upon the mask’s removal, the face of Gabriel Reyes winced in pain, trying to accept it’s final fate.

“What are you waiting for Jack?” Gabriel asked lying on the ground, powerless. “Just end it.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way, Gabe,” Jack sputtered to this old colleague. “We were supposed to fight the good fight.”

“We both know that was never meant for me.”

“But why, Gabe? Why go through all this?”

“I would think someone else who died and came back would understand. Wanting to take back what the world took from you.”

Jack couldn’t stand the sight of this. Gabriel may have caused untold pain to Overwatch and the world at large, but he was still his old friend. 

“At last, I can truly become death.”

No longer standing seeing his former friend suffer, Jack took his pulse rifle and fired a few shots at Gabriel’s head. The man known as Reaper finally had his soul taken to the other side. Jack may not have cried much in his life, but he surely did then, falling to his knees holding his head in his hands. 

“Satya, Winston,” Jack said into his earpiece, trying to pull himself together. “Gabriel is dead. What’s your status?”

“We stopped the God program,” the voice of Winston responded. “But something weird happened with Sombra.”

“What do you mean weird?”

“We deleted the program and then chased Sombra. We found her body in a room full of computers, but there was a wire plugged into her chest piece running into the systems. There was also a message on the monitors translating into, ‘You win this time Overwatch, but everyone has a shadow.’”

“This time? You think she’s still alive?”

“If not here, in cyberspace probably.”

“Alright. Meet us up back at the surface. I’m sure we’ll figure something out. Reinhardt, what’s your status?”

“Oh Jack,” Reinhardt shouted in his earpiece. “It was one of the most glorious battles I’ve ever taken part in. It’s such a shame you couldn’t fight by my side. Were there always Japanese guys in suits with us?”

“That was something that happened from down here. Is everyone ok?”

“We did lose a few of the junkers, and plenty are wounded, but nothing we can’t come back from.”

“So you guys won?”

“Yes Jack, and I’ll never forget what turned the tide for us. Remember those U.N. airships that came to destroy Gibraltar? Well a few of the same kind appeared overhead when all seemed lost.”

The U.N.? Jack thought to himself. How did they know all this fighting was happening? Did they come to arrest Overwatch? If not, why did they help us?

“You sure it was the U.N., Reinhardt?”

“Of course it is,” Reinhardt started to sound worried. “There are people in suits asking for every Overwatch member to show themselves.”

“Alright, we’ll be up there shortly,” Jack ceased communications as he came back to the group, still observing Gabriel’s dead body.

“Well everyone, it’s time we faced the music,” Jack solemnly told everyone.

“Jack, we just took down Talon!” Lena excitedly replied. “We need to celebrate when we leave here!” 

“U.N. troops are waiting for us at the surface.”

The team turned their attention to Jack, unsure of what he meant.

“Reinhardt told me that U.N. airships appeared and helped defeat the troops and controlled Omnics. But they’re more than likely to arrest us as well.”

“I don’t understand,” Hanzo brought up, since he was on the receiving end of Overwatch’s other campaigns. “We did the world a great service here today.”

“Tell that to the lawmakers,” Jack bitterly said, with his eyes watering, something the hardened soldier wouldn’t normally allow. Not at the fact that he killed his former friend, but that his family could be broken up again. “In the event that does happen, I just want to say it was an honor serving with you all. Past and present members. At this moment, I do not regret rejoining Overwatch at all.”

“I don’t think any of us do, Jack,” Ana said consoling her longtime teammate. “I don’t plan on running off again either.”

After some more contemplation and thinking about the good times he had with Overwatch, Jack finally worked up the courage to yell out what may be his final order to his soliders. “Team, let’s make our way to the surface.”

Ameile lead the group to an elevator going to the surface, with the team silent the whole way up. They grew to accept their fates, but longed that their deeds would at least be recognized. The U.N. couldn’t possibly work their way out of how Overwatch did most of the work in destroying Talon.

As the elevator car reached the surface, the team saw the destruction they were lucky to avoid. Dead Talon, Yakuza, and junker bodies littered the dirt plateau, joined by hundred of Omnic corpses. They could see Winston and Satya beat them, with Satya holding Junkrat as he lay on dirt with a busted peg leg. Torbjorn was doing some repairs on Bastion and Zenyatta, who both suffered heavy damage. Aleksandra, Fareeha, Hana, Lucio, and Mei were huddled together, covered in dirt and blood, waiting to hear what the U.N. people had to say. And Reinhardt ran towards Ana, just to hold her. For he had the same fears Jack had. Several U.N. airships had filled up with the living Talon troops. Towards one of the airships, Jack saw two young people in better suits than the other U.N. troops. He assumed that’s whom he must talk to, so he made his way over to them. What did confuse him is why people so young must tell him the bad news, not the bossmen themselves.

“Who the hell are you people?” Jack asked them.

“Our names are Shahnaz Amirmoez and Denisa Dumitrescu.” Dumitrescu started off. “We represent the secretary-general of the United Nations.”

“So you’re here to finally arrest us?”

“No Mr. Morrison, that won’t be necessary.”

“What do you mean? We’re here operating as Overwatch and you caught us. Doesn’t the Petras Act mean we’ll be prosecuted?”

“We’re here to tell you all before the press knows that the Petreas Act will be repealed and Overwatch will become our primary peacekeeping organization again.” 

Each member of the Overwatch team had gathered around Jack to listen and had their own surprised reaction. 

“I don’t understand,” Jack continued.

“We’ve been observing you all plenty over these past few months,” Amirmoez chimed in. “From afar and from, ahem, first-hand experience. And from this display tonight, we’re more than convinced you’re the heroes the world needs.”

None of the onlooking Overwatch members spoke. They just made excited faces at each other.

“Do you accept our offer?” Amirmoez continued.

“Fuck yeah we accept!” Lena shouted, speaking for all the excited people. “We’re official again!”

“Hold on, hold on,” Jack tried to calm everyone down. “How can we trust this? You destroyed our Gibraltar base.”

“We will rebuild it, make it your new full base of operations,” Dumitrescu continued on. “Believe us, we wouldn’t be asking this if we didn’t think the world could use you.”

“Well,” Jack looked back at the teammates behind him. They were all giving facial and hand motions urging him to accept. There was no way he could disappoint them all. “I think Lena spoke for all of us.”

“Excellent. The ceremony will be in one week at the U.N.’s New York Headquarters. We expect all the team members to be in attendance and dressed for the occasion. See you then.”

The two assistants boarded their ships and took off, leaving Overwatch to celebrate their new legitimacy.

 

2.

At the U.N.’s New York headquarters, crowds were gathered all along the 1st Avenue and 42nd street sides of the skyscraper. Plenty were holding signs praising the return of Overwatch, with the dissenters far and few in between. The situation was the same in the U.N.’s main council chamber, where some members of the public were allowed, mainly relegated to the back as to not disturb any of the delegates sitting closer to the front. 

The Overwatch members were waiting in a dressing room, waiting for the call to march out onto the main stage. They were mostly pacing, talking about their future plans, and how to try and find any remaining Talon sects. Sombra did manage to escape after all, so her freedom couldn’t be taken lightly.

The previous members, Lena, Angela, Jack, Ana, Winston, Mei, Reinhardt, Torbjorn, Genji, and Jesse all wore their old Overwatch uniforms from similar events like this. Ameile wore a new uniform that resembled Gerard’s. Fareeha, Hana, and Aleksandra wore their suits from their respective militaries. Satya opted for her Vishkar employee uniform. Hanzo wore a suit not to dissimilar from what his Yakuza wore in battle. Lucio didn’t have any nice clothes to wear, so he just wore a blue version of his standard green concert getup. Neither Bastion nor Zenyatta wore anything extra. Jaime and Mako opted for tuxedo t-shirts, to everyone’s dismay. 

“Alright, we’re ready for you now,” Arsendse told the group himself entering the dressing room. The team followed him out and down some hallways, leading to the council chamber. Everyone was flustered, wondering if Overwatch would be greeted the way they intended.

“You nervous?” Lena asked Ameile.

“Of course I am,” Ameile replied. “It’s strange being able to feel this way again.”

“Well I’m sure we all are, but I’m excited more than anything,” Lena told her as they reached the door. Beyond, the main chamber. Their destiny waited. 

Walking out onto the stage, Overwatch was greeted with rapturous applause as they went to their positions. They stood in front of a cloth sheet with the Overwatch and U.N. logos on it. Arsende made his way to the podium and the crowd finally calmed down to let him speak.

“Greetings to all those in attendance,” Arsendse proclaimed. “It’s my privilege to announce that after much deliberation between all the U.N. delegations, the Petreas Act will be repealed, and Overwatch will be reinstated as the U.N.’s primary task force.”

Thunderous applause and cheers came from the council chamber, with some of the Overwatch members hardly able to contain their excitement as well.

“Five years ago, Overwatch was outlawed due to abuse of U.N. funds, public mistrust, and bad management on our part. These, however, were caused by the agent named Gabriel Reyes, whom the world knew recently as Reaper. As you all know by now, Reyes was killed during a raid on Talon’s headquarters. All living Talon agents stationed there were arrested and are awaiting trail, with scheduled raids on suspected bases to continue into the future. This was made possible not by U.N. efforts, but the men, women, Omnics, and, um, gorilla, standing behind me. Granted, what they did at the time was against international protocol, but because of their actions, the world owes them a debt we can hardly repay. Which is why I’m also issuing a pardon of any possible crimes committed by these individuals during their time as fugitives.”

Another round of applause and cheers from the onlookers.

“We will also be rebuilding their former base on Gibraltar as their new center of operations, thanks to an agreement with the Vishkar Corporation. We still have plenty of work ahead of us, in making sure Talon is dead for good and restoring the peace between humans and Omnics. But with Overwatch again on our side, those goals are achievable. Now without further adieu, the medal presentation.”

One by one, each member came up to Arendse to receive their medal. For the most part, it took the form of a high school graduation. Person comes up to receive their award, the audience applauds, and moves on. There was the occasional lively celebration upon receiving. Both Lucio and Hana did dances on their way to and from the podium. Lena blinked up to the podium and raised her medal into the air like she was holding a newborn child. Aleksandra did a muscle flex, but not enough to rip her uniform. Mako gave a thumbs up to the crowd while Jamie simply laughed the whole way through. 

“It’s truly an honor,” Arendse said giving the last medal to Winston.

“Thank you,” Winston replied back. “Let’s hope that this whole ‘outlaw the organization keeping the world safe’ thing doesn’t happen again.”

“And with that,” Arsende addressed the crowd again. “I officially declare Overwatch reinstated. Let’s give them another round of applause.”

The chamber again erupted in applause as the attendees stood up. The honorees only had a few seconds to bask in this glory before Arsende and U.N. security escorted them off the stage, up one of the isles, and down a crowded hallways. They were being led to the 1st avenue entrance. 

“Your adoring public awaits,” Arsende said opening the door for them.

Once they were outside, the amassed crowd cheered the heroes’ introduction. All the Overwatch members were eager to accept, going their way behind the controlled police barriers to wave, make conversation, and sign many autographs.

“So Hanzo,” Genji said to his brother, “where does your path take you now? I’m sure Overwatch could use you.”

“This life of heroics may suit you Genji, but not me,” Hanzo responded bitterly, “I must return to Japan to restore our family’s honor.”

“Hanzo, you can’t go back to that life.”

“I didn’t say anything about that life. When I mean honor, I mean finally cleaning up our family’s act.”

“Cleaning up?”

“The Shimadas are getting out of organized crime. After seeing how insane with power Gabriel became, I’m determined not to let anything like that happen to our clan. And the only way to do that for sure is to get out of the business.”

“Well, brother, it’s good seeing you making amends.”

“Yes brother. Do try to visit. Hanamura is always open to you or anyone in Overwatch.” 

“Hey Zenyatta,” Aleksandra called the monk out in the crowd. “It appears we’ll be working together some more.”

“That it does Aleksandra,” Zenyatta replied. “Do you take issue with that?”

“No I don’t. With Talon stopped, I suppose your kind won’t be causing any more trouble.”

“At least you’re on the path to open-mindedness. I look forward to working with you too.”

“Don’t get too cozy. I’m still not your friend.” 

“It feels weird getting called a hero by normal people,” Jamie lamented. “I’m sure we can smelt these medals down into something useful.”

“You know Jamie, the offer for you and Mako to join Overwatch full-time is still available” Satya tried persuading.

‘Satya! Satya!” she could hear coming towards her in the crowd. It was Sunder Misra and Swarna Jain. “We just want to say how proud Vishkar is of your work.”

“I didn’t expect you two showing up,” Satya replied hardly paying them any mind. “I ought to bring up charges against the whole company.”

“We’re working on reforming our structure since the info about working with Talon leaked. The CEO resigned too.”

“Oh really? Who’s the poor fool stuck with that job?”

“It hasn’t been filled yet, but we were hoping you’d consider the position.”

Satya was left speechless. This offer was ludicrous. Vishkar had only trained her how to design and build, not how to properly manage a company. Plus, she had already committed herself to Overwatch. 

“I, I don’t know what to say. I only know how to build. I don’t know anything about running a whole corporation.”

“Everyone knows now you were involved with the team that took down Talon. Just imagine having someone as accomplished as you as the face of the company.”

Publicity again, Satya thought to herself. Typical Vishkar behavior. Caring more about the company’s image than what their employees actually want. But seeing how even more valuable she was in the company’s eyes now, she wanted to stake her own terms.

“No, I don’t want the job, but I will consider remaining on a few conditions. Vishkar has to work with Overwatch now and I wish to spend half my paying time with them. They can do a lot more positive action in the world than a few new shiny buildings.”

“But Satya, we’re giving you the chance to build the world in your image. Install order as you see fit.”

“I have a new way of looking at the world, Sunder. And order doesn’t come from forcibly instilling it on the masses. If you don’t accept my conditions, I’ll be with Overwatch full-time.”

“Um, Satya.” Jamie approached her from behind. “I know you want to stay with this crew, but me and Mako are going back to Australia.”

“But Jamie,” Satya said, immediately saddened by his decision. “This is the chance to turn your life around. For good.”

“Saving the world just isn’t my cup of tea. What would I know about putting it back together after blowing up so much of the shit we live in? I’m fine with the life I have.”

“Well, if that’s the case, can we still be friends?”

“Of course we can! You have to come build us all new houses at some point.”

“What?” Jain said overhearing their conversation. “You promised Vishkar housing to these runts without company approval?”

“Listen here, you stale curry dish,” Jamie lashed back. “We just helped take down Talon. Something that, as Satya tells me, has been giving you quite the trouble lately. If Overwatch can get a new base out of this, I think we’re entitled to something fancy too.”

“Yes Jain,” Satya chimed in. “I did promise the junkers Vishkar housing. And since you’re so concerned with the company image, consider how good it will look when the junkers don’t commit more crimes because they’re happy with their Vishkar-built community.” Satya got closer to the two employees to make her threat clear. “You can add this to my previous conditions.”

“Sure, sure you can have your Australia project,” Jain replied sheepishly. “Any publicity is good publicity they say.”

“Excellent. Now, if you excuse me, I have to go over this with Jamie,” Satya broke off with them to turn her attention to the Australian.

“So, when are you coming back to Australia then?” Jamie asked.

“I’m not sure. Not for a few months since I have to assist building the Overwatch base. But I’ll still talk to you, at the least to go over what ideas I have.”

“Is that all we’ll be talking about?”

“We can certainly talk about other matters, when the time is right.”

“Well if Overwatch is ever in our neck of the woods, just let us know. We may not like saving the world, but we sure do love a good fight.”

“I look forward to working with you again, Jamie,” Satya said before giving him a hug. “We should probably catch up with the others. Got more publicity to do.”

 

3.

Satya and some other Vishkar architechs went to work right away in redesigning the Gibraltar base. It same basic amenities were maintained, like sleeping quarters, kitchens, bathrooms, laboratories, workshops, and ship hangers but they were expanded. New additions included a dock for watercraft, a manufacturing area for quick weapon-making, and outdoor leisure areas.

After a few weeks of design and construction work, some of the familiar structures rose out of nothing. Where the previous base was not in good upkeep when it was destroyed, the new facilities had a shiny structure and a fresh coat of paint in the Overwatch blue, orange, and grey, as if it was the previous glory days of Overwatch. 

The Overwatch team moved back in when they felt a satisfactory about of the base was accomplished. Construction was still ongoing, but nothing being built would interfere with their core operations. 

They also felt it was as good a time as any to throw themselves a costume party. Just like they used to do.

The festivities were mainly held in the ship hanger, one of the first buildings to be fully completed. It consisted mainly of Torbjorn testing some new alcoholic concoctions, people giving each other shit for their dress choices, and talking about what the future had in store. Lucio had put on a playlist of various party tunes for background noise. Right now, a later-years Jackson 5 song was playing.

Angela, dressed as an authentic Valkyrie, noticed Reinhardt and Ana sitting by themselves, not dressed up, but mainly observing the fun.

“How come you two aren’t dressed up?” Angela asked the old couple.

“These costume parties were never our thing,” Reinhardt said with his arm around the old Egyptian.

“Jack and Torbjorn are in the spirit,” Angela said pointing towards the other two veterans. Torbjorn, dressed as a biker gang member, was serving drinks to Jack, as a Rambo-style soldier dressed in green and various shades of brown, and Winston, as a safari guide.

“Angela, do you remember all those times Jack dressed up as a stuntman?” Ana brought up. “They were always more into that than us.” 

“Think about this Ana,” Reinhardt told her. “The first official batch of recruits in years will be here any day now. Such a weird thing to think about.”

“You’re not considering retirement, are you?”

“I got a few good years in me left! Someone needs to give the newbies some backbone!” 

Jesse was dressed like a more authentic American South cowboy. He was in the middle of looking down at his plate of food when he noticed that Fareeha was aiming her cannon arm at the plate. Jesse saw that her raptora suit was now colored orange and white, and she had facepaint of the same colors. Her hair was braided in a new fashion too.

“Get off of my land, John Wayne,” Fareeha said in a faux tone.

“Fareeha, what are you doing?” Jesse asked the Egyptian.

“I’m a Native American,” Fareeha replied lowering her cannon. “Thunderbird is my name.”

“Yeah, but the thing is, actual Native Americans don’t like it when non-Natives dress up like them.”

“Tell that to Genji and Zenyatta,” Fareeha pointed out. The monk was going around wearing a traditional Egyptian pharaoh’s headdress and Genji was covered in nomadic robes. “They asked me beforehand if their outfits were okay, and I had no problems. Besides, I thought we’d play cowboys and Indians.”

“You sure about that?” Jesse said obliging her, pulling out his revolver. “It seems like I’m outmatched here.”

“Then it’ll be a challenge for you then.”

Lucio and Hana spent most of the party together, with Lucio wearing a purple hockey jersey and pants and Hana in a dirty outfit of a white tanktop, brown jacket brown pants, and brown goggles. They noticed Satya in perhaps the most outlandish costume anyone what wearing. Her skin was covered in blue makeup, and she wore just a red skirt and crop top, exposing her midrift.

“Woah Satya,” Lucio told her in awe. “That’s some crazy look you got here.”

“I put a lot of work into this,” Satya replied back. “Getting all this makeup on me took forever.”

“What are you supposed to be?”

“I’m a Hindu goddess,” Satya replied. “And you two are a hockey player and a hoarder?” 

“Um excuse me, I’m supposed to be a junker,” Hana corrected. “Those were some pretty neat dudes to hang around.”

“Yes, they definitely were.” 

“So you ever hear from Junkrat again?” Lucio asked.

“I recently went over the plans I had in mind to build his settlement. He wanted a large city, but I told him that was unrealistic given the landscape, so we settled on a suburban-like design he liked.”

“You’re building it yourself too?”

“No, I’ll definitely bring Vishkar help when I travel there. The thing is, Jamie promised to take me on the ‘Grand Australian Tour’ when I go. I suppose it’s to the major Australian cities that are still standing.”

“Ooooh, someone’s got a crush on you,” Hana jittered to herself.

“He’s just showing me his gratitude, that’s all.”

“That’s not the only thing he’s gonna show you. Ohhhhhhh!” Hana reached a hand up towards Lucio, expecting a high-five. He eventually gave her one before she continued. “So do you like him too?”

“He’s a very, how should I put it, explosive individual. And his presence unnerved me when I first met him. I wouldn’t say I’m in love, but I do enjoy his company. When I showed him what I would be wearing to his, he told me he had a scarecrow costume ready to go and he’d be on the next flight out here.”

“Well good luck with that,” Lucio told her. “If it’s anything like the job you did here, it’ll be fantastic.”

“Lucio, I wanted to ask you if you are comfortable working together now, given our history.”

‘Satya, we worked to bring down an international terrorist group and I watched you save the junkers from an African jungle. Anyone who can care for their fellow man like that can work with me anytime.”

“Thank you very much.”

Aleksandra, dressed as a Soviet weightlifter, followed Mei, dressed as a firefighter, around the party. The Russian was trying to convince the small Chinese girl to go on a date.

“Come on Mei, give me a chance,” Aleksandra pleaded. “I’m not one of those limp mail-order bride Russian girls. I can treat you as well as any man.”

“Aleksandra,” Mei meekly replied. “I’m not sure if I like girls that way.”

“Neither was I at first. I mean men are perfectly serviceable, but there’s something about the feminine figure that just does things to me.”

“Could you at least give me time to think about it?” 

“Hey Aleksandra!” Torbjorn came along interrupting the conversation. “You ready for a round of shots?”

“Oh you know it, dwarfman!’ Aleksandra as she ran off to follow him, briefly turning back to Mei. “I’ll convince you yet, tiny girl.”

Torbjorn lead her to the makeshift bar, which was a table with empty bottles littered on the floor with more open ones ready to be emptied. Everyone else was looking on either from around the table or from a distance.

“So what do we got here?” Aleksandra boasted. “More of that tap water you Swedes call hard liquor?”

“No, this is something of my own creation,” Torbjorn explained as he mixed the beverage together. This included dropping a warm screw nut inside the mixing bottle “A mixture of vodka, fireball whiskey, orange soda, and a hint of steel you send a shiver up your spine.”

“Please, this will be easy to down. Just like your other ‘creations.’”

After some hearty shaking of the mixture glass, Torbjorn poured out the shots for him and Aleksandra. They clinked glasses and downed. Aleksandra initially showed no hesitation, but after a few seconds, she started coughing. Torbjorn burped loudly after he finished his.

“Torbjorn,” Aleksandra tried saying through her coughing and now laughing. “What was that? My mouth is on fire!”

“It’s the drink that finally made you crack, Russian,” Torbjorn exclaimed. “I’ve never seen you flinch from shots up till now.”

“Come on, give me another shot. I swear I won’t break down this time.”

Lena was dressed as a racecar driver, sporting a black helmet with an orange visor, a white jacket with yellow and orange on the undersides, white tight pants, and orange shoes. Among all the fun and festivities happening, she noticed someone was missing.

“Has anyone seen Ameile?” Lena shouted. 

“I think she went outside,” Angela shouted back. 

Lena followed the directions and went outside. Ameile was standing by some rocks staring out at the Mediterranean. She was wearing a frilly purple jacket, purple pants, and a frilly white undershirt beneath the jacket. 

“What’ca looking at?” Lena said approaching Ameile.

“I thought it would help me think about,” Ameile said before turning to see the gaudy colors of Lena’s jacket. She did not take to them. “A racecar driver? Really?”

“Not just any driver. T.Racer! At least people know what I am,” Lena said taking her helmet off so she could talk easier. “No one’s going to get who you are.”

“I’m a comtesse. A countess as you’d say.”

“You sure you’re not female Prince?”

“You Brits had frilly clothes in your history too, you know.”

“How come you’re not inside with everyone?”

“I was having fun, don’t get me wrong, but I just wanted some time to think.”

“So, what’s next for Ameile Lacroix? Have you made your decision?”

“Yes I have, Lena. I’ve decided,”

“Yes, yes?”

“That I want to get my tattoos changed.”

“Oh come on! Don’t lead me on like that Ameile!”

“Hehe. In all seriousness, these tattoos are as tacky as the Widowmaker outfit,” Ameile explained as she rolled up her right sleeve, showing the Cauchemar tattoo. “They might as well have said, ‘Mauvaise persona va te tuer’ (Evil person going to kill you). And the spider on my back? It’s as stupid-looking now as Gabe’s skull mask.”

“What are you going to get instead?”

“Something at least more positive, after I get these other one’s removed. On my left arm I’m thinking. It will say, ‘Qui Vivra Verra.’”

“What does that mean?”

“’She who lives, shall see.’ I’m in control of my destiny now. I should get something to reflect that.”

“That sounds jolly good, but you know what I’m really asking about, right?”

“Oh of course. And I did decide to remain with Overwatch.”

“Ameile, that’s great!” Lena said leaping up to hug Ameile. “We’re gonna go on so many missions together! Taking out the bad guys with speed and pinpoint precision!”

“I don’t know how often that will be,” Ameile said eventually forcing Lena to get off of her, “but yes, I do look forward to working with you. Of course I’m going to have to get an actual Overwatch uniform. No more of that skin-tight suit showing my boobs. Something more in line with what you agents normally wear.”

“Are you gonna have your down call-sign?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like how people call me Tracer, Fareeha goes by Pharah, Angela goes by Mercy, and so on.”

“That’s something I need to think about too. I certainly can’t go by Widowmaker anymore.”

“Don’t think about that too hard love,” Lena said as she reached in to kiss Ameile on the cheek. “I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“Thank you Lena. For everything you’ve all done.”

“I expect we’re gonna hear that a lot more now. You wanna go back inside now?”

“I think I’ll stay out here a while longer. I’ll catch up with you.”

“Suit yourself,” Lena said putting her helmet back on. “See you back in there,” as she blinked off.

Ameile just looked further out into the sea, imagining what the future held. Not just for her, but for Overwatch too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack: 
> 
> Broadsword - Jethro Tull
> 
> Encore Une Fois (Future Breeze Mix) - Sash!
> 
> Fire on High - Electric Light Orchestra
> 
> Come to Daddy (Pappy Mix) - Aphex Twin
> 
> Can You Feel It? - The Jacksons
> 
> Sacred - Erasure
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you to those you have read this story the whole way through. I do plan on writing more in this particular world, including a long piece centered around the "Reformed Ameile Lacroix." But until I'm ready for that, I'll just be writing more short one-offs and AU's. Thank you again!


End file.
